An unwelcome visitor has come to Natitingou and many other places in West Africa. He has been hanging around for several months now, and everyone hopes he’ll go away soon. Who is this stranger? Hunger is his name, and Famine is his cousin. He arrived here in Benin for a couple of reasons. One is that many people have planted cotton, and now they haven’t grown enough corn for their families. The other problem has been in international news, though it hasn’t gotten much airtime in the States: grasshoppers have invaded the northern part of West Africa. Niger has been hit especially hard. The grasshoppers that went through last year laid eggs, and now they’ve all hatched in time to eat the crops.

That means that people are coming down to Benin to buy food. Corn prices have been going up and up. A 100kg sack of corn that used to cost 7,000cfa (about US$14) rose to 35,000cfa (about US$70). In Cotonou, the price went as high as US$130. To give you an idea of the real cost, consider that an average night guard’s monthly salary is about 25,000cfa or US$50. Prices have gone down some, but a 20 lb. bowl of corn still costs about US$12. That won’t even feed an average family for a week. Some people we know are eating only one meal a day and still trying to work in the fields until their crops come in. Please pray for the people of West Africa as they try to hold on until harvest time.

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