Desert locusts swarm across a highway at Lerata village, near
Archers Post in Samburu county, approximately 186 miles north of Nairobi on January
22, 2020. Credit: Tony Karumba Getty Images
Locust swarms of biblical proportions are threatening crops across
a wide swath of Africa and southwest Asia—spurring alarm among top
international officials.
A major concern is famine. The United Nations is warning that mass
swarms of desert locusts are endangering food supplies in eastern Africa. In
response, officials in Rome mobilized an emergency briefing yesterday in a bid
to raise money—noting the situation has a high potential to devolve into a
full-blown crisis.
“This is an unprecedented situation that we are facing,” said
Dominique Burgeon, an emergency services director at the U.N. Food and
Agriculture Organization |||READ
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The issue of tiny sands in rice since the local rice revolution
started in the country last year is generating wider attention. In this report
by ELEOJO IDACHABA with agency reports, analysts say it is a serious concern in
view of global standard.
Face to face with reality
“My problem with this local rice policy of the government is that
it is not safe to eat because of the number of stones in it. Each time I want
to cook, the number of minutes it would take me to pick the stones is enough to
get the foreign rice ready; that is basically my problem with local rice,
otherwise it is sweet,” says Mrs Linda Attah, a mother of two. She said apart
from the fact that her children have aversion for eating local rice, she said
when they remember that they have to crack a stone when eating, the simply
protest whenever she serves them for lunch in their schools |||READ
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