USAID Officials Survey Locusts In Northwest Africa, Gear Up Local Response Effort
WASHINGTON, DC 20523
PRESS OFFICE
http://www.usaid.gov/
Press: (202) 712-4320
Public Information: (202) 712-4810
2004-084
September 20, 2004
Contact: USAID Press Office
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Roger Winter, Assistant Administrator for the Bureau of Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), begins a 10-day tour of Senegal, Mauritania and Mali to survey ongoing locust infestation. During his trip, the Assistant Administrator will meet with government officials, the United Nations-chaired Inter-Agency Humanitarian Task Force on Locusts, and affected farmers and herders on locust damage.
"It's important that we assess first-hand how locusts are affecting local villages, communities and neighboring areas," Assistant Administrator Winter said. "USAID is in a unique position to provide ongoing, front-line assistance and we are rapidly implementing those steps."
Originating from the spring breeding areas near the Atlas Mountains in northwestern Africa, desert locust swarms have moved south into the Sahel region, stripping vegetation as they go and threatening to destroy crops.
Locusts are a type of grasshopper that are more robust and can migrate over long distances. When ecological conditions are right, large populations of locusts can develop and spread across entire regions. An adult locust can eat its own weight in green vegetation daily, which means that just a small fraction of an average swarm can eat as much as 2,500 people do in a single day.
As an initial phase of locust control efforts, USAID - through its Assistance for Emergency Locust/Grasshopper Abatement (AELGA) project - has placed experts in key areas to facilitate survey and monitoring activities, including the treatment of 183,000 hectares with insecticide in Mauritania, Niger and Senegal. One hectare is equivalent to 2.4 acres.
USAID AELGA experts can also rapidly secure pesticides, spraying equipment, conduct environmental assessments and provide other in-country technical assistance. In addition, USAID, on behalf of the U.S. government, has provided $3.65 million in assistance channeled through the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization to fight the spread of the locusts, which pose a serious threat to food security throughout West Africa.
USAID Food for Peace, the agency's emergency food aid arm, is poised to move in-country food stocks to areas where crops and food sources have been severely affected.
The U.S. Agency for International Development has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.
Back to Top ^
|
