Locusts could descend
2003-10-20 19:29
Rome - Swarms of desert locusts could threaten crops in the African countries of Mauritania, Niger and Sudan, a UN food agency warned on Monday.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation said the situation could become critical within weeks, urging governments and donors to monitor the problem closely and prepare to intervene.
"The number of locusts is increasing rapidly. They are beginning to concentrate themselves into groups characteristic of an outbreak," the Rome-based agency's Locust Group said in a statement. "We need to address the problem now, before the situation deteriorates."
Under certain climatic conditions, desert locusts increase in number and band together, hunting for food in areas of vegetation, the statement said. Tens of millions can join up in swarms that stretch for kilometres and travel great distances.
Locusts threaten northwestern Mauritania, northern Niger and northeastern Sudan. The agency warned that if the problem worsens, locusts could move north from Mauritania into Morocco, from Sudan toward the Red Sea, and from Niger and Mali into southern Algeria.
- AP