Ana Comoana, the spokeswoman, said more than 41,000 hectares of crops in Mozambique, an African nation with a long Indian Ocean coastline, had been affected by pests including caterpillars and fruit flies.

She said that more than 3,000 hectares of corn had been lost, and that coconut and banana production had also suffered.

Mozambique’s cabinet approved on Tuesday a 160 million-metical (RM10.1 million) action plan to combat pests and disease. The country is one of the world’s poorest countries and is in the throes of a debt and financial crisis.

Much of Southern Africa, including Mozambique, is still recovering from a devastating El Nino-driven drought two years ago. Mozambique was also one of several countries in the region invaded by an infestation of crop-damaging fall armyworms in 2017, an invasive species that mainly attacks corn plants.