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Locust invasion

  • 29/06/2005

Locust invasion Drought-hit Cameroon is surely heading towards severe food shortage, thanks to a locusts. a recent statement by the country's agriculture and rural development minister Clobert Tchatat said swarms of migratory locusts have invaded all the six divisions of the Far North province. Radio reports from the region said the insects had completely covered the skies, devouring anything green in the way.

Cameroon lies between Nigeria in the west and Chad in the east. In 2004, it was spared in West Africa's worst locust invasion of 15 years. The attack had raised fears of famine in the region, where a large population comprises subsistence farmers. Tchatat said about 7,000 litres of pesticides are available in the affected area now to fight the insects. Seeking to highlight the intensity of the crisis, he pointed out that the same region had recently faced destruction of crops by migratory birds and elephants, which had added to the crop loss caused by low rainfall.

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