- Governor Nanok says county has partnered with state, FAO, and Child Fund to implement a recovery programme and restore livelihoods of 82,000 households affected by the locust menace.
- Turkana is among the northern counties that have been ravaged by locust invasion.
Image: HESBORN ETYANG
Desert locusts have destroyed more than 23,000 cares of maize and sorghum in Turkana, the county government has said.
Governor Josphat Nanok said his government has been increasing land under crop cultivation to boost food security but decried the locust invasion which he said has eroded the gains made.
“This year, 41,467 acres were put under maize and sorghum production. However, these grains were hampered by the locust invasion in February where over 23,000 acres of farmland were destroyed,” Nanok said.
The governor was speaking in Lodwar during Mashujaa Day celebrations on Tuesday.
Turkana is among the northern counties that have been ravaged by locust invasion. Others are Mandera, Isiolo, Wajir, Garissa, Marsabit and Samburu.
“I wish to commend the concerted efforts of different stakeholders particularly the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization and my government in pooling resources to contain the spread of locusts, not only in Turkana but in the wider Horn of Africa region,” Nanok said.
He said the county has partnered with the national government, FAO, Child Fund and other agencies to implement a recovery programme and restore livelihoods of 82,000 households affected by the menace.
“As part of our efforts to combat locust invasion, 463 officers received training in modern technology for surveillance and ground control as an investment into managing future invasions,” the governor said.
The county has bought three tractors to add to 10 it already had to improve mechanised agriculture by increasing acreage under crop production.
“With the support of the Drought Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods Programme (DRSLP), two irrigation schemes (Simailele and Koono) are currently under construction to benefit 532 households."
The schemes are 450 and 300 acres respectively.
“In addition, the programme is constructing a 50-acre pasture plot in Konoo, Simailele and Katilu. Two boreholes have also been drilled and equipped in upper Kawalase and Katilia to benefit approximately 200 households, while another two in Nakwapua and Koono in Loima subcounty have yet to be equipped.”
The governor said the county had supplied 3,148 bags of livestock feeds to sub-county stores in Lokichar, Lodwar, Kaaleng and Kakuma.
“We expect another 5,000 bags of the same from the FAO post-locust recovery programme to be distributed to vulnerable pastoralists to cushion them in the event of drought,” he said.
To eradicate livestock diseases, the county veterinary department has vaccinated about 2.7 million livestock since the beginning of last year and received support from partners like TUPADO, Save the Children, VSF Germany, FAO, World Relief among others.
Nanok said at least 16,252 households benefitted from veterinary drugs and experts treated about 1.2 million livestock for different diseases. He said the investment in vaccination and treatment is geared towards improved animal health for better productivity.
“We have also strengthened livestock disease surveillance efforts reaching 16,546 households thus increasing awareness of current disease status, planning and timely response,” he said.
Edited by P.O