Army worms outbreak puts Zambia’s food security at risk

ZAMBIA must intensify its fight against an outbreak of army worms that is wiping out fields of the staple maize crop, posing a threat to the Southern African country’s food security, Vice-President Inonge Wina said.

“They are posing a big threat to food security in the country,” she said in remarks broadcast on Monday on Hot FM radio in Lusaka, the capital.

“They have come with such a force of mass destruction that has to be faced head on. We need to put more effort into eradicating the worms.”

The black-striped caterpillars can appear between December and May, as armies of the pest spanning kilometres and as dense as 1 100/km² march through fields, destroying entire crops.

Army worms and other pests had already attacked at least half of the country’s 10 provinces by last week, according to the Zambia National Farmers’ Union.

Agriculture makes up almost 10% of the economy, and about half of all employed people work on farms.

Crop damage in the Copperbelt province has reached particularly alarming levels, the farmers’ group said in reply to e-mailed questions.

Some districts there had fallen victim to not only army worms, but stalk borers and boll worms too.

About 90 000 hectares have been affected so far, according to the government’s Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit.

Zambian President Edgar Lungu last week directed the air force to help airlift pesticides to fight the outbreak, the country’s first major attack since 2012.

Minister of National Guidance and Religious Affairs Godfridah Sumaili has called on Zambians to seek divine intervention against the worms, state-owned ZNBC reported on its website yesterday. – Bloomberg