AFRICA - Children forced to eat locusts to survive famine

Gao (Agenzia Fides) - According to the humanitarian organization World Vision, founded by an American missionary in 1950, which deals with development and emergencies, West African children are forced to eat locusts to survive the severe famine that continues to worsen, partly because of drought and conflict in progress. In a statement on behalf of the organization, of which a copy was sent to Fides, the insects, which come from Algeria and Libya, had already begun to destroy crops in Niger and Mali and continue to move towards the south. The invasion of locusts is alarming because it coincides with the planting season, already so precarious in the semi arid Sahel region, south of the Sahara Desert. From recent data, 18 million people from 8 countries of West Africa, were already experiencing a severe food crisis due to a combination of drought, rising food prices and conflict in Sahel. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 14/6/2012)