[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text dp_text_size=”size-4″]”They eat everything that is green: wheat, peas, sesame,” said Baz Mohammad, a Kandali village spokesperson. “We march with hungry stomachs to exterminate the locusts.” “Our agriculture will be ruined if we don’t kill them,” Mohammad said.
Hundreds of thousands of locusts have fallen on fields in northern Afghanistan, leaving farmers and their families defenceless in the face of food scarcity.
A swarm of grey insects has gathered on a wheat field in the village of Kandali in Balkh, one of eight impacted provinces in the country’s breadbasket.
Also Read: Here’s Why Haris Rauf is Trending on Twitter.
After feeding on the produce, they lay eggs to hatch the next spring, perpetuating a destructive cycle in a country where nine out of ten families already struggle to purchase food, according to the United Nations.
Desperate farmers employ nets to catch the plague of Moroccan locusts, one of the world’s most voracious pests, before burying them in trenches, yet their numbers continue to grow.
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), this year’s outbreak might kill 1.2 million tonnes of wheat, a fourth of the yearly harvest, and result in a $480 million loss. Drought has gripped Afghanistan for the third year in a row, with farmers in Kandali reporting no rain since March, which could have washed away the bugs.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
