While I thought that locusts were one of those things that happened in biblical times and not so much anymore, like all the first-borns being slain in the night... but it turns out I was wrong.
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| LOCUSTZ |
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization announced yesterday that locusts are a real threat to North-West Africa, specifically Chad, Mali, and Niger. The locusts have been breeding since the summer and are now sprouting (being born? how are locusts birthed?) into swams in Chad, soon to descend (ascend?) upon the rest of the Sahara, likely into Libya, Algeria, Mauritania, and southern Morocco.
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| Predicted Travel of the LOCUSTS! |
Swarms of tens of millions of locusts can travel up to 100 miles a day. Good summer rains led to a
250-fold increase in the locust population. And if that doesn't scare you, how about the fact that a "small swarm" of locusts can eat enough food/crops in a day to feed 35,000 people. Yeah, get scared. Control efforts are being hurt by lack of funds (they asked UN countries for $10mill and only have ~$4mill so far) and the fact that some of the breeding grounds are hard to reach, not to mention in the North of Mali, which is currently UNDER SIEGE BY TUAREG REBELS.
Random Kate Thoughts: When you think about violence in a country, like for instance Mali, you tend to think about people dying or raping or killing, not about people forgetting to apply the pesticide. But unrest and violence really does affect every aspect of life. And right now the UN Food Agency is having trouble getting support to those regions, because their pick-up trucks (bakkies for you South Africans) keep getting looted. Darn you Tuareg rebels, don't you know you'll all starve if the locusts come?!
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