Kenya is on a high alert following a possibility of a third wave of desert locust invasion as huge swarms are currently hatching in Somalia and are likely to cross to Kenya.
Agriculture Principal Secretary Hamadi Boga said despite Kenya’s efforts to contain the locusts, failure by Somalia to deal with the emerging swarms pose a serious threat.
Kenya is on a high alert following a possibility of a third wave of desert locust invasion as huge swarms are currently hatching in Somalia and are likely to cross to Kenya.
Agriculture Principal Secretary Hamadi Boga said despite Kenya’s efforts to contain the locusts, failure by Somalia to deal with the emerging swarms pose a serious threat in the coming days.
The new invasion could deal a blow to Kenya’s efforts, coming at a time when the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) announced the country had managed to eliminate all the deserts locusts, except in one county.
“There is a possibility of a third wave because of the swarms that are hatching in Somalia, which has failed to control,” said Prof Boga.
In Somalia and Ethiopia, the locusts are hatching and the direction of wind will play a critical role in their movement.
FAO on Wednesday handed over Desert Locust Information Office to government to enable it monitor the movement of the pests in the region and take necessary precautions.
The office contains information, equipment and all data that was collected during the desert locust survey and control.
The invasion of desert locust in the country had been contained, except in Samburu County, coming as a relief to farmers who were worried of losses from these pests.
FAO office in Nairobi announced last month that about 23 counties that had been invaded in the second wave of invasion were now free from the ravaging insects with only a few swarms that had been spotted in Barsaloi, Samburu County.
FAO had earlier in the year warned that the swarms would quickly mature and lay eggs if it rained, hence posing a serious danger to the crops.
Experts argued that the rains would force the locusts to move from dry areas to regions where there is downpour as they search for fodder.
According to the study commissioned by the ministry of Agriculture last year and funded by FAO, approximately 609,999 hectares of cropland and 579,786 hectares of pastureland were infested by the desert locusts.
An alert on impending invasion of the first wave of locusts was issued in February 2019 by FAO after they were reported in Yemen. The insects then spread to Somali, Ethiopia and Eritrea and then to Kenya on December 28.
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