UN Warns of Potential Locust Invasion in Flood-Stricken West Africa
By Lisa Schlein Geneva 15 September 2007

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The United Nations warns floods in West Africa could provoke an invasion of locusts in Mali and Niger. It says it is critically important that UN experts be given access to the locust-prone region so they can monitor the situation and head off a potentially disastrous situation. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.

A young Mauritanian looks at a dense swarm of desert locusts near Aleg, Mauritania, 08 Aug. 2004 (file photo)

The United Nations says more than 500,000 people in 12 countries in West Africa are affected by the torrential rains that have fallen since early August. It says dozens of people have been killed, hundreds of thousands have been made homeless, major bridges have collapsed, crops and livelihoods have been destroyed.

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