Mauritania agriculture under threat from Saharan locusts A spokesperson for Mauritania\'s technical commission for observing migratory locusts on Wednesday warned that Mauritania\'s agriculture is in danger of being destroyed by massive swarms of migratory Saharan locusts.
\"Small numbers of this type of locust were found in the eastern province of Neima (1200km east of Nouakchott). The density of the swarms is expected to be about 6000 locusts for each hectare,\" said the commission\'s member and head of the National Centre for Saharan Locusts\' Control, Mohammed Abdullah Ould Papah.
\"This region is currently under tightened observation. The National Centre has prepared 3 plans to control the migratory Saharan locusts. Each plan of action is designed for treating certain areas of attacked lands, according to the density of the migratory swarms.  The first task is to prepare cleaning 60,000 attacked hectares, the second plan for 150,000 hectares and the stage will be to clean 300,000 hectares,\" he added.
Ould Papah said that the Mauritanian authorities are facing difficulties operating in an effective observatory system due to the lack of cooperation from neighbouring countries which have been witnessing security problems, particularly in Mali and Morocco.
Mariam Nour, the commissioner of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), described Mauritania\'s plans to control the expected locusts\' swarms as \"comprehensive and integrated\".  Nour said the World Bank has dedicated a budget of between $10 million and $15 million for funding the treatment of the migratory locusts in Saharan countries.
The FAO has recently warned that the Saharan locust swarms could reach southern Morocco and Mauritania to breed over the winter, before moving east to Algeria.