By David Lewis

DAKAR (Reuters) - Locusts nesting in northern Mali and Niger threaten next year's food crop, the U.N.'s top aid official in the region said, after donors and governments across Africa's Sahel zone have contained a crisis caused by shortages this year.

Rains falling across the Sahel bode well for a healthy 2013 harvest but the pests, due to start moving across the region within weeks, add to long-term problems like high food prices and low production which must be tackled to end cyclical crises, David Gressly told Reuters in an interview.

Poor rains last year meant 18 million people across an arid strip of nations stretching from Senegal in the west to Chad in the east faced a twin food and nutrition crisis this year.

"We are in the final stages of the lean season now and by and large the overall crisis was contained," Gressly, the U.N.'s Sahel humanitarian chief said late, praising the swift moves by governments to recognize the problem and donors to respond.

"You cannot avoid all suffering - the world is not perfect in that regard. [More]














Source: Locusts Threaten African Sahel Food Supply Next Year