Markets empty after worm invasion

Army worms have now struck 65 towns across Liberia, leaving in their wake wells contaminated by faeces, fields empty of crops and markets devoid of food.



The worms, which invaded Bong country in central Liberia on 15 January, have spread to Gbarpolu County in the northwest and to Lofa County, which borders Guinea and Sierra Leone.



Crops that remain in the affected Liberian towns – including bananas, plantains, taros and peppers – are not being harvested. "Farmers are now scattered around the area and are no longer harvesting their crops so…there is a shortage of food in the markets,” said farmer Massaboi Kollie, who runs a 10-acre taro and pepper farm in the town of Belefanai, which was infested on 23 January.



This leaves market vendors in Bong’s capital Gbarnga with nothing to sell. "We are no longer making business. The worms have taken over all the towns where we normally buy bananas, plantains and peppers,” said vendor Mamie Morris.



Up to 20,000 people have fled their villages in Bong, Lofa and Gbarpolu counties, according to Liberia’s Ministry of Agriculture.



"Life is becoming unbearable for us,” Anthony Menkor, 55, told IRIN from Gbarnga, where he fled from Zota District with his 13-member family. “We are relying on the limited crops that are left, and depending on other food being transported in from other regions.”



Rising food prices



In Gbarnga the cost of some foods has more than doubled: a large bunch of bananas now cost US$10 up from $4; 1 kg taros that used to cost 38 cents now costs $2.25, according to fruit-seller Annie Sumo.



As much as 75 percent of Zota District has been invaded by the worms, said the district’s agricultural commissioner, Joseph Urey.



"There is food shortage right now in my district and we are sending emergency calls for aid agencies to bring water and food to the affected people, who have been displaced from their towns,” Urey said.



Fighting the worms



Officials with the ministries of agriculture, health and internal affairs and the Environmental Protection Agency have been spraying affected areas with insecticide, forcing most of the worms into the forest, according to Joseph Queliboh Subah, who manages the government effort to contain the insects.



But this has sparked fear that the worms might cross the borders to Guinea and Sierra Leone.



Subah said only aerial spraying can stem the spread, as insects climb trees to fertilise their eggs. "Liberia cannot contain the invasion so the international community has to come in to help with more advanced spraying," he told IRIN.



He said NGOs have not yet responded to appeals for assistance.



Experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) were expected to arrive in the capital Monrovia on 26 January to assess the extent of the damage and decide how to fight the worms, according to FAO’s Liberia emergency coordinator Tim Vaesen.



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