Swarms of locusts have arrived in northeast Senegal, sources reported on Wednesday, invading earlier than in previous years and threatening crops during the growing season.
Police at Matam in the far northeast on the border with Mauritania said a swarm had arrived and then headed south along the Senegal river that divides the two countries.
”At the moment the swarm is at Kanel [30km south of Matam] between the river and the town,” a police official said. ”We are waiting for the reaction of the relevant authorities.”
”It is the first time we have seen locusts at this time of year,” said Ousseynou Diop, head of the Agriculture Ministry’s department of farm warnings and crop defence.
”In the past they used to arrive after the harvest, towards the month of November,” but this year ”their arrival coincides with the sowing season. We are afraid they will gobble up everything that sprouts. This year will be a disaster if we get no help.”
Officials also reported a swarm in the Bakel district, 200km south of Matam.
On Monday Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade wrote to leaders of the Group of Eight industrialised countries, calling on them to declare war on the locusts, which threaten crops in many North and West African states.
He said the invasions in the Sahara region spell death for hundreds of millions of people.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation warned earlier this month that in the coming weeks large numbers of swarms of locusts are expected in Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger and Chad. — Sapa-AFP