Hundreds of families in Chewele and Sala wards are facing starvation following the invasion of their irrigated farms by the newly hatched wingless nymphs, known as hoppers.
Farmers say the deadly immature pests have already destroyed more than 50 acres of irrigated near mature maize, watermelons, green grams and vegetables.
This a double tragedy for the farmers. We lost all our crops to last year’s floods. But as we were about to recover, then came the locusts. We are staring at imminent starvation.
The effects of the locusts are being felt by the pastoralist whose grazing lands that were lush following last year’s heavy rains are slowly being devoured by the baby locusts.
Addressing the press, farmer Mohammed Ramadhan from Salah said they expected a bumper harvest but their hopes have been dashed by the locust invasion.
Ramadhan said their first crops were devoured by the first swarm of locusts that invaded their farms in early February. They replanted but the locusts re-emerged.
“This a double tragedy for the farmers. We lost all our crops to last year’s floods. But as we were about to recover, then came the locusts. We are staring at imminent starvation,” Mohamed said.
Some families are still at IDP camps." I am pleading with the government and NGOs involved in locust spraying to come to our aid before we lose our entire crop."
There's a similar situation in Karime village where hopes of harvesting green grams have been dashed after the locusts destroyed the crop.
Farmers are now appealing to the government and other development partners for quick interventions, including availing pesticides and hand pumps to spray nymphs that cannot yet fly.
They said the entire area has been food sufficient but faces a severe food shortage if nothing is done.
Among the worst-affected counties are Mandera, Marsabit, Wajir, Isiolo, Meru, and Samburu that have lost over 5 000 square kilometres of green vegetation. The locusts prefer grasses, such as millet or maize, but also attack other crops such as rice, coffee, vegetables, and fruit.
A locust devours the equivalent of its own weight (two grams) per day. In a single day, a swarm of this size eats an amount of food equivalent to that of 35,000 people.
(Edited by V. Graham)
