The other crisis: Locusts imperil millions in Africa

The idea that a butterfly flapping its wings can cause a hurricane on the other side of the globe is a commonplace of so-called 'chaos theory' in physics.

But theory aside, individual consumers making tiny, everyday choices in the industrialised north have helped set flapping the wings of hurricanes of locusts in east Africa.

"The situation is particularly worrisome in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya," Cyril Ferrand, a senior UN official based in the region, told EUobserver.