On this day in history, some West Africa countries including Chad, Mali, Gambia, Niger and Mauritania suffered the worst plague of locusts in 40 years.
The locusts cleared hundreds of thousands of acres of crops and because the numbers of swarms were so high pesticide control was unable to keep up. Most of these countries have suffered from droughts in recent years and if the locusts were to return, large-scale famine might occur once again.
