Africa: Day of the Locusts

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While much of East Africa is afflicted by drought and famine, the continent's northern and western regions are coping with a different tribulation: locusts. Billions of the ravenous insects have swept across Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, and are moving into Mauritania, Senegal and Mali. Aided by heavy rains that facilitate breeding, the swarms have grown into the worst such plague in 30 years.

An international group of technical experts and field staff, led by the Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, is fighting the pests. The U.S., Western Europe and the Soviet Union have donated a total of $30 million for pesticides and field operations, but F.A.O. officials say $150 million more is needed. "If the plague gets out of control, it will spread to East Africa and the Near East," warns an F.A.O. official. "It could be a disaster."