Tens of thousands face hunger amid Liberian insect plague: official

Monrovia (AFP) Jan 24, 2009 – Tens of thousands of Liberians face hunger owing to an invasion of crop-destroying caterpillars, local authorities said Saturday. "More than 40 towns and villages have now been affected by the army worms," Joseph Urey, the commissioner of Zota district, told AFP. The previous figure was around 20. The Zota district is in on of the three northern counties in Liberia where the army worms, as the caterpillars are called, are causing destruction contaminating water supplies and damaging food crops in the already impoverished country. "We don’t know how long it will take the international community to come in but we are worried. If it continues for another month more than 120,000 people will face hunger," the commissioner warned. The Liberian government have already said they do not have the means to spray the army worms with insecticide from planes and has asked the international community for help. Last week the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said the invasion by tens of millions of army worms was a "national emergency" for Liberia that could spread across West Africa.