West Africa will lose up to a quarter of its grain harvest this year if the worst locust infestation for 15 years is not brought under control, regional agriculture experts are warning.
Massive swarms have been devouring crop fields and pastures from the Atlantic coast to eastern Chad, threatening to unleash famine in parts of a region where many are subsistence farmers and governments cannot afford pesticides to fight the invasion.
"The maximum loss if the locust situation is not brought under control is estimated at 25 per cent of the region's expected production," the Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) said in a statement after a three-day conference.
The body, which groups nine states from across the region, said late yesterday that the losses during the 2004/05 crop year would vary from country to country, with Mauritania, Senegal, Mali and Niger the worst affected.
The United Nations has said the swarms could develop into a full-scale plague, and agriculture ministers have pledged to wage a military-style campaign against the insects from bases in nine countries.