Somalia suffers invasion of crickets

[Hiiraan boy]

Mogadishu - Somalia, the scene of conflicts since 1991 and which regularly suffers floods and droughts, has now been hit by new type of disaster as millions of crickets have invaded the south of the country.

The insects have destroyed farmland around six villages in the region of Gedo, the district commissioner in Luuq, about 400 kilometres northwest of Mogadishu, Ahmed Bule Mohamed, told AFP by telephone.

"We don't know where the locusts came from but we have seen them destroying everything, and with in 48 hours the locusts have eaten all green leaves in the villages of Durey, Maganey, Doryanley, Hanoy, Dowdhere and Aro Aso," he said.


"I can estimate that the locusts have destroyed farmlands around 200 hectares."

Local residents also expressed concerns over their crops.

"We have seen millions of locusts destroying the trees and crops in the farmlands and we don't have anything to protect us from them," said one, Omar Hassan Malin of the village of Maganey. This is a tragedy.

"You would think that no green leaves have ever grown in those villages, millions of locusts spread around the area and left the trees leafless." - Sapa-AFP

[Padishah]

Where are the dhabadhilifs? We had plenty of them during the last invasion.

[xamari_gash]

MAY ALLAH EEASE DA PAIN IN SOMALIA

AMIIN

[Hiiraan boy]

[quote="Padishah"]Where are the dhabadhilifs? We had plenty of them during the last invasion.[/quote]

[sadwiil]

[quote="Hiiraan boy"]
The insects have destroyed farmland around six villages in the region of Gedo, the district commissioner in Luuq, about 400 kilometres northwest of Mogadishu, Ahmed Bule Mohamed, told AFP by telephone.

[/quote]



even the insects are joining fight in Somalia

Crickets vs. Ilkayar

[Koronto91]

Walaahi, this is sad. These poor farmers probably mortgaged their livelyhood to plant and it's almost harvest season.

May Allah ease their pain, ameen.

[cabdallah252]

[quote="Hiiraan boy"]
The insects have destroyed farmland around six villages in the region of Gedo,[/quote]

[Hiiraan boy]

[quote="cabdallah252"][quote="Hiiraan boy"]
The insects have destroyed farmland around six villages in the region of Gedo,[/quote]


[/quote]
xaasid

same thing happend in puntland

[gurey25]

goood eating.


better than qule

[Abdi_westldn]

[quote="sadwiil"][quote="Hiiraan boy"]
The insects have destroyed farmland around six villages in the region of Gedo, the district commissioner in Luuq, about 400 kilometres northwest of Mogadishu, Ahmed Bule Mohamed, told AFP by telephone.

[/quote]





naxariis yaridaa

--------------

this is not abdi



even the insects are joining fight in Somalia

Crickets vs. Ilkayar [/quote]

[cabdallah252]

Crickets vs. Ilkayar



































<---- PASSSED OUT

[paidmonk]

"millions of crickets have invaded the south of the country."
"in the region of Gedo."
"I can estimate that the locusts have destroyed farmlands around 200 hectares."
------------------------

[Koronto91]

What is so funny about some poor farmers' suffering? WTF is wrong with you people?

[Hiiraan boy]

Locusts Hit Puntland
By Arjun Kohli
Nairobi
29 June 2007

In the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in Somalia, a swarm of locusts has stripped fruit trees and crops, causing an agricultural emergency in a country already suffering acute food shortages. Arjun Kohli reports from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi.

Worried officials in the northeastern area of Puntland say locusts have already eaten their way through hundreds of hectares of farmland.

An unusually heavy rainfall in the Horn of Africa in recent weeks caused dormant eggs in the soil to hatch. The locust swarm, which can number in the tens of millions, has reportedly devastated the Bari region's lush fruit orchards, sending prices for mango, oranges, bananas, and other fruits skyrocketing in local markets.

Scientists from the Desert Locust Control Agency for Eastern Africa are working with the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization to combat the attack.

The FAO's coordinator for Somalia, Graham Farmer, tells VOA that he believes a particularly destructive species called the immature desert locust is to blame for the infestation.

The FAO has reported simultaneous locust outbreaks in Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen, and Farmer says he fears the swarm could make its way as far as the Indian subcontinent.

"They go through different phases and then eventually they reach the phase where they can fly," said Farmer. "The conditions have been right for this to happen at this time. Depending on the way the wind blows, it can be Ethiopia, Eritrea, Yemen, Sudan, Pakistan, India. So, [there is] very much the potential for a regional problem."

Puntland's agriculture ministry says it is powerless to stop the insects and has asked for international assistance.

Meanwhile, aid agencies say insecurity, frequent pirate attacks, and closed borders with Kenya are severely hampering efforts to deliver food and other supplies to Somalis suffering from conflict and drought in other parts of the country.

A man wounded in a explosion in Mogadishu is attended to by doctors of UN Ugandan peacekeepers, 28 Jun 2007
A man wounded in a explosion in Mogadishu is attended to by doctors of UN Ugandan peacekeepers, 28 Jun 2007
The deputy head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for Somalia, Matthew Olin, says Somalis in the war-torn capital, Mogadishu, has been the hardest hit.

"There has been an increase in attacks, attacks involving hand grenades and explosive devices," said Olin. "This is making it extremely hard for U.N. national staff and Somali NGOs and international NGOs through their national staff to provide assistance in Mogadishu. The situation in Mogadishu is poor and it has deteriorated in the last week."

A Somali worker for a Western aid agency and his driver were shot to death in Mogadishu late Wednesday in what appears to have been clan-related violence.

[cabdallah252]

hiiraan_boy

80% of puntland's food is imported unlike gedo