Musadye zitete: Malawians warned to keep away from ‘locusts’

Following a spate of attacks by a swarm of locusts in the Lower Shire Valley, Malawians have been warned to keep away from the insects that are being sold as a delicacy in some parts of Malawi.

In a media announcement that was monitored by Malawi24, Illovo Sugar Company who have also been affected by the disaster of locusts have advised the Malawian public to not consume insects that are being sold in some parts of the country.

“We applied some chemicals to kill them as they had invaded our sugarcane plants, as a result most of them have died,” a spokesperson for the company was quoted as saying.

According to Illovo, there is a high chance that some of the locusts being sold in the market are the ones that they killed after they invaded their field. Such insects have been said to contain harmful poison which can in turn kill people.

“We are advising the Police in the roadblocks to confiscate any insects that are being transported from the Lower Shire valley area,” said the Illovo PR.

Last month state President Peter Mutharika was accused of telling Malawians that they should be eating insects as a way of beating the hunger situation in the country. Government spokesperson Patricia Kaliati said that the President was only joking on the issue.