Flooding and locust plague add to Chad food crisis

Areas in the north and east of Chad were also battling a locust invasion. By Seyllou Diallo (AFP/File)

N'DJAMENA (AFP) - Chad warned Saturday that flooding of vast fields of crops and locust infestations had added to a severe food crisis in a country already battling chronic malutrition.

"The situation is quite worrying, based on analysis of available data," Agriculture Minister Djimet Adoum said. "After the famine, the ministry is now concerned about flooding of food crops and a locust infestation."

Adoum said that 255,700 hectares (632,000 acres) of land that contained a variety of crops had been flooded, notably in the Mayo Kebbi-Est region in the southeast of the largely semi-desert country.

Areas in the north and east of Chad were also battling a locust invasion, he said, adding that four teams from the anti-locust agency were on the ground in a bid "to save the next harvests".

The poverty-stricken central African country is already battling a food crisis that has also effected several neighbours including Niger and Mali, after a poor crop year in 2009-2010, and a high mortality rate among livestock.