Caterpillar plague destroys crops
Liberia's president has declared a state of emergency after an invasion of crop-eating caterpillars affected 350,000 people in the West African country.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf told politicians that the pests have the potential to set back Liberia's progress in the production of food and export crops.
The inch-long caterpillars are clogging wells and waterways with excrement and devouring vital crops including bananas, plantains, coffee and cocoa.
The outbreak in Liberia, which is still recovering from years of civil war, has been blamed on last year's unusually long rainy season.
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, the caterpillars also have entered neighbouring Guinea.