Baringo pastoralists face hunger, drought and locusts

Locusts are eating Baringo county.

Pastoralists in Baringo county are facing acute drought made worse by a massive invasion of desert locusts.

The long-horn desert locusts struck several villages in Tiaty subcounty on Saturday and it's feared they will spread to the neighbouring Baringo North and South.

The arid and semi-arid lands are inhabited by Pokot, Tugen and Ilchamus communities.

“Our people solely rely on livestock for their livelihoods and the invasion of locusts means we are starring at acute drought,” Tirioko MCA Sam Lokales said on Wednesday.

The insects have already devoured massive amounts of vegetation at Chepokana, Kamokol, Kalpesa, Tiaty Hill, Kaapelow, Cheptiyok and Cheprukwo villages in Tirioko, Tiaty subcounty.

“We are appealing to the government to allocate enough resources to spray and clear off the dangerous locusts before they spread to Turkana, West Pokot and Elgeyo Marakwet counties,” Lokales said.

Stubborn and greedy

On Tuesday, a Pokot woman Chepochesirwo Lonoki from Kamurio village in Tiaty said the tonnes of locusts landed in the area on Saturday.

She said not a speck of green vegetation was left when the locusts departed.

Lonoki begged the government to move faster to eradicate the locusts, saying if left to graze freely they will clear all the vegetation.

She was backed by residents Limana Rukoreng, Loywel Ngoleluk, John Lokidap, Loriworen Kanguria, Charkoi Turu and Kamasista Kabilinyang.

The UN Food and Agricultural Organization says an adult desert locust can consume roughly its own weight in fresh food per day  —  about two grams a day.

 A very small part of an average swarm (about one tonne of locusts) eats the same amount of food in a day as  10 elephants 25 camels or 2,500 people.

The government deployed a surveillance chopper to map areas of locust infestation on Tuesday.

County crops officer Lawrence Makau said the insects have split and scattered in several groups.

"Our team is now working on the logistics of tackling them through aerial spray,” he said.

(Edited by V. Graham)