IRIN
WEST AFRICA: New generation of locusts expected as egg-laying continues
1 October 2004


[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

DAKAR, 1 October (IRIN) - Swarms of locusts are still laying eggs in 
southern Mauritania and although the rainy season is coming to an end, 
conditions are still favourable for a fresh round of breeding to take 
place in many parts of West Africa, the UN Food and Agriculture 
Organisation (FAO) said on Friday.

"Conditions remain favourable in many parts of the Sahel to allow a second 
generation of breeding. So far this is in progress in southern Mauritania 
near Aioun El Atrous, where recently matured summer swarms were seen 
laying eggs in the past few days," the FAO said in its latest update on 
the crisis.

The organisation said many swarms of recently hatched immature locusts 
were still forming in southern Mauritania, northern Senegal, Mali, Niger 
and the north of Burkina Faso and that some of these were large, dense and 
highly mobile.

The FAO noted that lush vegetation which sprung up on the southern fringes 
of the Sahara during July and August was now drying out, forcing the 
insects to move greater distances in search of food.

It also reported that following a change in the prevailing winds, large 
swarms of locusts had started moving north across the Sahara towards 
Morocco and Algeria. One mega-swarm sighted in northern Mauritania was 
reported to be 70 km long.

"More swarms will form in the Sahelian countries and move into northwest 
Mauritania and the southern portion of Northwest Africa in the coming 
weeks," the FAO predicted.

The organisation, which has taken the lead role in coordinating the locust 
control campaign, warned that West African countries were still 
desperately short of aircraft and pesticides to spray the swarms which 
threaten to devour a large part of the current grain harvest.

Although an estimated three to four million hectares of land had been 
infested with locusts in the dry savannah lands of the Sahel, less than 
500,000 hectares had so far been treated, the FAO said.

It reiterated that Mauritania, Senegal, Mali and Niger were the countries 
worst affected.

As dry season winds blow the locust swarms west as well as north, some 
have been blown out into the Atlantic ocean and have reached the Cape 
Verde Islands, 450 km offshore.

However, Keith Cressman, a locust control officer with the FAO in Rome, 
said the swarms reaching Cape Verde were quite small and were not expected 
to cause significant crop damage in the arid archipelago.

The FAO appealed in mid-August for US$100 million to fight the invasion of 
locusts, the worst seen in West Africa for 15 years.

It said on Friday that $48.7 million had so far been pledged by donors, 
while the United Nations had agreed to contribute a further $6 million 
from its own funds.

However, the organisation noted that so far only $14.7 million of cash 
been made available.

"More support is urgently needed to protect crops and pasture and extend 
locust control activities, in particular (to obtain) transport and 
spraying planes and helicopters," said Clive Elliott, Senior Officer of 
the FAO Locust Group.


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