Locusts Swarm Through Drought-Stricken Namibian Crops
The second wave of the reed migratory locust outbreak currently plaguing Namibia is more severe than the first, Agriculture Minister Calle Schlettwein has announced. Meanwhile, the ministry of agriculture says it is unable to secure an effective biological pesticide that is environmentally acceptable and approved for aerial application as a measure to control the locust outbreak in Kavango East. The supply of this pesticide is in high demand by several African countries where severe outbreaks of locusts are currently experienced. The recent locust invasion follows a similar outbreak to that of the African migratory red locust which attacked fields in the Zambezi region from August 2020, destroying more than 5,000 hectares of green fields. The agriculture sector has been on the back foot over the past five years or so, owed mainly to a devastating drought, which has left deep scars in this fragile sector.
InFocus
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Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila has said nearly U.S.$40 million will be made available for farmers and families currently gripped by severe drought. Read more »
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People forced to migrate as a result of drought may no longer have easy access to the support of family and friends or to HIV treatment and people who lose the stability of their ... Read more »
(File photo).