Zambia on alert over red locusts attack

Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Friday ordered the release of funds to avert an invasion of red locusts on agricultural fields.

Minister of Agriculture Dora Siliya said the Zambian leader ordered the finance ministry to release 1 million Zambian Kwacha(about 0.1 million U.S. dollars) to the Red Locusts Control Center towards averting the impending attack of red locusts after he was briefed by officials from the ministry.

The Zambian leader wanted experts to deal with the attacks because of the threats posed, according to state-run news agency, the Zambian News and Information Service (ZANIS).

The International Red Locusts Control Organization has informed the Zambian government on the possibility of the red locusts outbreak.

Moses Okhoba, director of the Red Locusts Control Organization for central and southern Africa, said there was a swam of red locusts which were currently breeding on the Kafue flats, a vast open floodplain of the Kafue River which runs from the Southern, Central and Lusaka provinces of Zambia.

The red locust is a very hazardous insect pest to agriculture in eastern, central and southern Africa.

Zambia is currently battling army worms which have ravaged about 24,000 hectares of planted maize in six of the country' s 10 provinces. Endit