Hordes of caterpillars threaten Liberia, possible risk to wider region – UN

In what is being described by the United Nations as Liberia’s worst plague in 30 years, hordes of caterpillars are destroying crops and vegetation in northern areas of the country and posing a major threat to the already precarious food security situation in the country and the wider region.

The situation in Liberia is a national emergency and is likely to escalate into a regional crisis involving neighbouring Guinea, Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire, according to the Representative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Liberia, Winfred Hammond.

FAO has created a task force including experts from Ghana and Sierra Leone to assess the situation, prepare an immediate action plan and devise medium and long-term measures, said Mr. Hammond.

For its part, Liberia has set up three emergency committees to provide planning, resources mobilization and communication and information. The country lacks the financial resources and technical expertise to combat the emergency on its own and will require international assistance, Mr. Hammond said.

The caterpillars, two to three centimetres in length and described by villagers as “black, creeping and hairy,” are advancing in the tens of millions, devouring all plants and food crops in their path and in some cases overrunning homes and buildings.

Some 46 villages in Bong, Lofa and Gbarpolu counties of northern Liberia are confirmed to have been affected, including two-thirds of the 200,000 inhabitants in Bong County, the worst-hit area.

FAO reported that some villagers are unable to reach their farms because they are completely surrounded by the pests, suspected to be African armyworms (Spodoptera spp). In addition, many wells and waterways in the affected areas are unfit for human consumption because of the huge volume of faeces dropped by the caterpillars.

Mr. Hammond cautioned against the use of aerial spraying since it was likely to further contaminate the already precarious water supply in the area. Whatever solution is found, FAO recommends the use of less risky pesticides, including bio-pesticides when they are effective.