Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

US Approves $3.2 Million to Quell West African Locust Invasion
AllAfrica.com ^ | October 4, 2004

Posted on 10/04/2004 11:50:06 AM PDT by dead

Washington, DC

Concluding a 10-day tour of Senegal, Mauritania and Mali, Roger Winter, Assistant Administrator for the Bureau of Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development, announced that the U.S. Government has approved $3.2 million in immediate assistance to protect crops and fight locust invasions in the region.

The new funding will allow the dispatch of six aircraft, pesticides and logistical equipment as part of a regional approach to combat the locusts, and builds on the $3.6 million channeled earlier through the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and bilaterally with regional governments to fight the spread of locusts in West Africa and the Maghreb.

"I have seen the damage caused by the locusts and how this situation is adversely affecting families of many farmers and herders throughout the region," Assistant Administrator Winter said. "We need to help now to protect the crops while it is still possible. The U.S. Government is a committed ally in this fight against locusts, and we are not leaving."

During his survey of the locusts, Assistant Administrator Winter said he has the commitment from the president of Mali and the prime ministers of Senegal and Mauritania to allow a cross-border aerial campaign to protect crops and eradicate locust infestations. The Turbo Thrush airplanes can each spray 5,000 hectares a day (one hectare is equivalent to 2.4 acres). They will be based in border regions and will treat infestations in Mauritania and Senegal and, potentially in Mali.

In addition, the U.S. Government through USAID will supply environmentally suitable pesticides, field radios and global positioning system units to help track locust swarms.

As part of the assistance package, the U.S. will look into ways to reduce the size of locust swarms in the region using different kinds of aircraft spraying. USAID will continue its support for community brigades already working to help eliminate hopper bands - groups of locusts not yet able to fly. A common technique is to drive the locusts into long, deep trenches where they are buried.

Last week Assistant Administrator Winter deployed a team of disaster experts with experience from the last locust emergency in the late 1980s. These technical professionals will support the regional response and will be based in Senegal, Mauritania, Mali and Niger.

In October, USAID's Food for Peace office will participate in a United Nations' assessment that will look at damage to crops and pastures and recommend an appropriate response.

The U.S. Government has worked in the area of locust control for over a decade. USAID, through the Assistance for Emergency Locust/Grasshopper Abatement (AELGA) program, has actively provided training in emergency/transboundary pest control and research into developing alternative control mechanisms. During the locust plague from 1986 through 1989, the U.S. Government, mainly through USAID, contributed more than $60 million to a $300 million, multi-donor campaign. Since then, AELGA has worked in areas of plague prevention, pest management, environmental protection, pesticide disposal, awareness and training to best handle future locust invasions.

The U.S. Agency for International Development has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: africa; locust

1 posted on 10/04/2004 11:50:08 AM PDT by dead
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: dead
You might be interested in this story from Uganda as well :

Members of Parliament Support the Use of DDT

The Monitor (Kampala)
NEWS
October 1, 2004
Posted to the web September 30, 2004

By Agness Nandutu
Parliament

Lawmakers have declared their support for the government to use DDT to fight against malaria. Government wants to reintroduce the banned chemical, Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), to deal with the rampant malaria.

The Minister of Health, Brig. Jim Muhwezi, said the government was conducting consultations to ensure that the use of DDT does not have any adverse effects on either the population or the environment.

Some MPs have been among the strongest critics of DDT use. However, after a tour to South Africa to study how they have successfully carried out indoor residual spraying in malaria control with the use of DDT, said they will support the use of the chemical in Uganda.

"When a plane crashes and kills 30 people it is breaking news on TVs and radio but malaria is responsible for seven Boeing crashes each day through out the year and that is not breaking news," Muhwezi told journalists yesterday during the weekly cabinet briefing at Nakasero.

2 posted on 10/04/2004 11:56:32 AM PDT by ZGuy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dead

....why don't they save some bucks and send over some peanut oil and skillets and fry'em up, aren't those people starving over there?

Protien, it does a body good.


3 posted on 10/04/2004 12:12:51 PM PDT by taxed2death (A few billion here, a few trillion there...we're all friends right?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dead

When is the US going to do something about the welfare parasite invasion from Mexico?


4 posted on 10/04/2004 12:29:25 PM PDT by DH
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DH
When is the US going to do something about the welfare parasite invasion from Mexico?

A huge BUMP to that question.

5 posted on 10/04/2004 12:55:02 PM PDT by Pagey ("How did Hillary Clinton become a Senator"? Have you ever asked yourself that question?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson