Residents burned tires and children took to the streets with sticks in Senegal's capital on Wednesday to fight an invasion of locusts, as 12 West African nations agreed on a battle plan. Agriculture ministers meeting in Dakar pledged to wage a military-style war on the airborne pests from bases in nine countries and called on donors to equip them with pesticide and planes as quickly as possible. (Reuters Graphic)

A Senegalese man walks as locusts spread in the capital Dakar, September 1, 2004 in the worst invasion to hit impoverished countries across West Africa in 15 years. The United Nations (news - web sites) Food and Agriculture Organization (news - web sites) warned last week that the locust swarms infesting countries from Mauritania to Chad could develop into a full-scale plague without additional foreign aid. REUTERS/Pierre Holtz

Locust devour wheat in southeastern Morocco. As the small west African state of Benin prepares to repel a massive locust invasion, some farmers and health experts are concerned about the long-term effects of pesticide sprays, they told AFP.(AFP/File/Abdelhak Senna)

Pilgrim locusts cling to a tree. West Africa should deploy its armed forces to battle the worst invasion by desert locusts in more than a decade to prevent a food crisis from crippling some of the world's poorest countries, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade said.(AFP/File/Seyllou)

A swarm of locusts seen in the air just outside of the city of Dakar, Senegal on Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2004. The United Nations (news - web sites) Food and Agriculture Organization (news - web sites) warned last week that the locust swarms infesting countries from Mauritania to Chad could develop into a full-scale plague without additional foreign aid. (AP Photo/ Schalk van Zuydam)

Swarms of locusts have infested plants in a district of the Senegalese capital, Dakar.(AFP/Seyllou)

Only a military-style operation with bases across West Africa can stop the worst locust invasion in 15 years destroying vital food supplies, Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade said on August 31, 2004. Delegates from 12 West African nations are meeting in Dakar to draw up a battle plan as the insects busily mate in fields nearby, threatening to unleash a another wave of devastation when a new generation comes of age in about six weeks. A swarm of desert locusts settle in a tree in Laghouat, Algeria, July 29. (Louafi Larbi/Reuters)

An unidentified girl rides her bike through a swarm of locusts just outside the city of Dakar, Senegal Wednesday, Sept 1, 2004. The United Nations (news - web sites) Food and Agriculture Organization (news - web sites) warned last week that the locust swarms infesting countries from Mauritania to Chad could develop into a full-scale plague without additional foreign aid. (AP/Photo Schalk van Zuydam)