Wildlife

Locusts Ravaging Madagascar

Madagascar risks having two-thirds of its crops overrun by locust swarms if it fails to act now, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warns. “This could very well be a last window of opportunity to avert an extended crisis,” said FAO Director General Jose Graziano da Silva.

The country’s worst locust infestation in 60 years had spread across a wide swath of the country by early April, and FAO says the agency has been falling short in its efforts to raise funds from Western donors to combat the plague.

“If we don’t act now, the plague could last years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars,” cautioned Graziano da Silva.

Experts say there are now more than 500 billion ravenous locusts on the island nation, chomping through about 100,000 tons of vegetation each day.

“The last (locust plague) was in the 1950s and it had a duration of 17 years. So if nothing is done, it can last for five to 10 years, depending on the conditions.”