Locusts target sub-Sahara

2004-08-05 14:26

Nouakchott - Burning tyres and trash in the streets, people of the West African capital of Mauritania battled descending swarms of locusts on Thursday in what the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation called the sub-Saharan's worst invasion in more than a decade.

Insects reaching densities of an estimated 50 million locusts per square kilometre started landing on Wednesday on Mauritania's capital, Nouakchott.

Flying south from hatching points in North Africa, the swarms were landing to eat their weight each day in the sub-Sahara's scarce trees and crops, international experts warned.

"It's beautiful to see and funny, the locusts on parade in the sky," said one woman, Aicha Bint Sadibouh, taken aback by the sight. "But when they invade the streets and homes, it's disastrous."

Locusts crunch underfoot

Overnight on Thursday, inhabitants across the desert city burned what they could spare, hoping the acrid smoke would drive away insects covering their homes and roads.

Tyres, trash and other castaway objects, ignited, burned swarms in crackling flames.

Locusts crunched underfoot with each step on Thursday in the sandy streets of the capital.

The Rome-based Food and Agriculture said unseasonable rains last year prompted a larger-than-normal annual birth pattern, leading to the heaviest locust infestation since 1988.

While the locusts _ which resemble flying grasshoppers - have yet to reach "plague" proportion, experts say, the swarms are still growing.

FAO and others have appealed for international donations to combat the locusts, including spraying fields with chemicals.

The descent upon Nouakchott was the most vivid evidence of the invasion after weeks of growing warnings.

The invasion also has reached Mali, while Burkina Faso, Chad and Darfur, Sudan, are also at risk. The latter two regions are already caught in a humanitarian crisis from what the West calls an ethnic cleansing campaign by government-backed Sudan militias against non-Arab African villagers.

The president of Mauritania's southern neighbour, Senegal, cancelled a foreign trip late last month to deal with the locusts in the far eastern part of that country.

Senegal's neighbour, Gambia, declared a state of emergency. France is sending teams of experts to assist.

Locust swarms can travel over 100km each day, the FAO says.

A swarm can contain up to several billion insects, they say. Each day, the bugs can eat their own weight: about two grams.

- AP