Fighting locusts cost Morocco USD 36 Mln
The campaign to fight locusts cost Morocco US $36 million up to July, including US $4.25 million of international aid, revealed Morocco's Secretary of State in Charge of Rural Development, on the fringes of North and West African Agriculture Ministers' meeting on locusts that wrapped up Tuesday in Dakar.
Mohamed Mohattane told MAP pesticides purchase and aircraft mobilization cost US $23 million, that is 64 percent of the total amount.
Mohattane, representing Morocco in this meeting of the Commission on fighting locusts in the Western Region (CLCCPRO), said from 32 to 42 planes have been mobilized at a daily basis since the start of the anti-locust campaign in November 2003. Up to August, 2 million hectares have been treated in Morocco, he noted.
On Morocco's solidarity with other African countries also affected by this plight, the Moroccan official said land intervention teams were made at the disposal of Mauritania as well as pesticides and 3 aircrafts. Morocco, he said, also donated 5000 litres of pesticides to Mali and Niger.
One country cannot fight this phenomenon alone, he pointed out, calling for a "more active" international and regional collaboration to fight locust swarms.
On Tuesday, North and West African countries agreed on adopting an "offensive" strategy against the "alarming" progression of locusts in the region. They also decided to convene in the Senegalese capital an international scientific conference on locusts invasion.
CLCCPRO member countries (Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal, Chad, Niger and Mali) also reiterated their call to the international community to provide countries affected with locusts with the necessary equipment, warning of the "gravity" of the situation in North and West African countries.
According to experts, 2 million hectares are currently affected by locusts in the region.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) deemed the global cost needed to fight locusts at US $100 million, while donations allocated for this purpose are estimated at US $32 million.