Aid is urgently needed to contain the most serious desert locust swarm of the past 15 years engulfing West Africa, a United Nations agency said today.
The desert locusts have shifted from breeding areas in northwestern Africa to countries including Mauritania, Senegal and Mali and are likely to multiply over the next few weeks, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
The last locust plague in 1987-1989 cost more than €300 million to contain and control operations were carried out in 28 countries compared with some €8 million pledged to this year's campaign, the Rome-based agency said in a statement.
"International aid is urgently needed to supplement the major efforts already made, in particular by the countries concerned, and to prevent the situation from developing into a plague," the agency said.
Although more than four million hectares (ten million acres) have been treated with pesticide, including land in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania, the FAO said more was needed because of the size of the swarm.