Locusts Continue Relentless Advance

Some wore buckets on their heads, others swung sticks, and those who could sheltered indoors, praying for an end to the locust invasion which yesterday swept through Mauritania's capital, Nouakchott.

The swarm devastated crops and the city's few parks, and left residents feeling besieged and impotent in the face of west Africa's worst locust infestation for over a decade.

This was Mauritania's third swarm in as many months, a plague which the government said had destroyed up to half the country's crops and 60% of its pastures.

The swarming insects are the offspring of the first wave of locusts which moved south earlier this year, said Mohamed El Hacen Ould Jaavar, head of operations at Mauritania's desert locust centre. "They're winged juveniles starting their migration and fattening up before they set off. They're very hungry," he told Reuters.

Nouakchott's main soccer pitch and President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya's palace gardens were reported to have been eaten by the first locust invasion in early August.

Children waved sticks at the insects, but it was a futile gesture since each square kilometre of a swarm holds up to 80 million locusts, each eating the daily equivalent of its own body weight, two grammes. A separate swarm recorded outside the capital last week measured 45 miles long.

Some of those with no choice but to leave their homes wore upturned buckets to protect them against the insects.

"We have to leave it to Allah because there's nothing we can do against such a phenomenon," said Zeinab, tending plants in a neighbouring plot.

Locusts sweep across Africa every year, but this year has been especially bad because heavy rains created ideal breeding conditions. Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Senegal are worst hit, but also affected are Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, Eritrea, Gambia, Morocco and Sudan.

Agricultural experts warned west Africa could lose up to a quarter of its grain crop but did not suggest famine would result. Mali's rice paddies are at risk as fresh swarms hatch and take flight, replacing those that died.

Pesticides and crop-dusting aircraft can dent the swarms but only one eighth of Mauritania's affected area was sprayed. Neighbouring countries were also ill prepared.

The United Nations Food and Agricultural Agency warned of the danger a year ago, but only in recent weeks have donors made significant contributions.