Disasters: Invasion of the Locusts

The rains that finally came last year to relieve famine-stricken Africa from drought prepared the ground for another natural disaster: an invasion of locusts. For the first time in 60 years, infestations of four different locust species are occurring at the same time. Together with swarms of grasshoppers, the voracious and sky-blackening insects are devouring crops in west, central and southern Africa. Currently under severe attack are large portions of Chad and Sudan, parts of Mauritania on the Atlantic coast and virtually all of Botswana in the south.

Western governments and relief agencies are mobilizing to fight the locusts, which migrate in clouds of billions of insects. The Food and Agriculture Organization last week opened a Rome emergency center to funnel assistance to stricken regions. Some $17 million in aid has so far been pledged by the U.S. and European Community members.