$40m more to stop locusts
2004-09-17 17:24
Rome - Donor nations have pledged an additional $40m to help fight a locust invasion in west Africa that has destroyed thousands of hectares of cropland, the head of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation said on Friday.
"At a meeting on Friday, donor countries committed to rapidly make available $16m already pledged and announced that they will raise another $40m," FAO chief Jacques Diouf said.
"In terms of pledges, the response was positive but I still have to be prudent," said Diouf.
"Of the $16m promised earlier in writing by donor nations, the FAO had as of two days ago only received $2m, along with another $2m from the United States.
"The FAO has 45 days to act, until the end of October," Diouf said.
After that deadline, any action was likely to be too late and the plague of locusts would worsen, he said.