Farmers call for help as locusts invade Murang'a

Residents of Kaha-ini village in Kandara subcounty of Murang’a have asked the government to help control locusts that have invaded their farms.

They fear the locusts would make it impossible to till their farms in preparations for the long rains' planting season.

When journalists arrived in the village, a dark cloud of the pests hovered under the skies. Residents stood in groups watching helplessly as the swarm migrated from one home to the other.

Samuel Mwaura said the swarm landed on his farm on Tuesday, creating a green cover.

“They eat all the vegetation and leave their faeces all over the farm,” he said. They fed on banana, avocado and maize leaves.

When he walks into his farm, the locusts fly away, making a sound like rainfall.

Mwaura said residents in Kaha-ini grow avocados for a living and are concerned that the locusts could impoverish them if not controlled.

As the farmers stare at a bleak future, dogs are having a field day chasing after the pests.

Johnson Mucheru, a farmer, said the last time such a calamity was witnessed was over 50 years ago. He said the locusts were much bigger and slower then. 

He urged his neighbours to cover their eyes whenever they are outside, saying the locusts can harm them due to their flying speed.

Peris Wambui said the pests invaded her farm at 4pm on Tuesday. She was worried that the invasion could create food insecurity.

She raised concern over planting saying the locusts are hovering over and will attack the crops as soon as they germinate.

“We will suffer hunger if the pests are not controlled because they will destroy all the vegetation,” Wambui said.

Wainaina Ng’ang’a asked the government to establish their breeding areas and kill them.

“When we experienced a similar attack, we used to cook and eat them but now we are in another era,” he said.

Locusts invaded the country in December 2019 when the first swarm crossed the border from Somalia on December 28, 2019 with more swarms streaming in from Ethiopia.

In a report released by the Food and Agriculture Organization on February 23, small immature swarms are declining in the Northern and Central counties.

The report indicates that multiple reports of the same highly mobile swarms continue to be reported in various counties. There are no reports of new swarms arriving from Somalia.

FAO said a few small swarms moved from Southern Kenya to North East Tanzania where they were reported near Mt Kilimanjaro in Arusha, Tanzania, and that an aircraft has been deployed from Kenya to control them.

-Edited by Sarah Kanyara