Harare - Farmers
in southern Africa face a growing threat amid an outbreak of armyworms, a
destructive pest that’s spread to Zimbabwe while continuing to decimate fields
in neighbouring Zambia.
The
black-striped caterpillars have infested 124 000 hectares (306 400 acres) of
Zambian fields out of 1.4 million planted hectares, Agriculture Minister Dora
Siliya told reporters on Tuesday in the capital, Lusaka.
That’s up from
an estimated 90 000 hectares last week. In Zimbabwe, the fall armyworm has been
reported in seven of the eight corn-growing provinces, the government and
farmers’ representatives said.
The fall
armyworm is a “major problem for us,” Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union
President Wonder Chabikwa said by phone on Tuesday from Harare, the capital.
The spread of the caterpillars is linked to a dry spell last year, he
said. Two of the country’s corn-growing provinces have also reported the
commonly referred to as maize, is a staple food in both countries and Zambian
President Edgar Lungu directed the air force in late December to help airlift
pesticides to fight the outbreak.
While Zambia
produced a corn surplus last year, crops elsewhere in the region were hard hit
by drought and Zimbabwe said in July it would roll out a $500 million program
to boost production of the crop and ease food shortages.
Authorities are
confident Zambia’s food security won’t be threatened, Siliya said.
-With assistance from Matthew Hill.
BLOOMBERG