The government on Monday sprayed a dense locust swarm covering about six square kilometres at Dulgub in Wajir county.
Head of Plant Protection Services at the Ministry of Agriculture David Mwangi said the spray aircraft 5Y- BCK from DLCO-EA arrived in Wajir on Sunday.
In a statement, Mwangi said a team of experts from the government and the Desert Locusts Control Organisation have been surveying the situation in Wajir and Mandera counties and are in the process of mobilising and sensitising the county ground control support team.
"The lorry carrying the control chemicals and the control equipments (hand sprayers, motorised sprayers, PPEs and vehicle-mounted sprayer) arrived in Wajir on Sunday morning and proceeded to Moyale and Marsabit yesterday(Monday). Mandela county will organise to collect their supply from Wajir. We can quickly supply Isiolo from Nairobi if the locusts spread," he said.
The team in Wajir was by Sunday in the process of confirming two identified locust swarm roosts (resting/sleeping sites) at Leisanyu and Sabuli in Wajir North and South subcounties respectively, for aerial control.
Mwangi said the national team will split into two groups so that one group can mobilise the ground team in Moyale (Marsabit county) while the other group continues with survey and control in Wajir county.
Some Northeastern leaders last week appealed for the intervention of the government and the international community to contain the devastating swarms of desert locusts that have invaded the region.
Led by Eldas MP Adan Keynan, the leaders warned that the economy of the entire region will tumble if the insects are not contained within a month.
They said the locusts will destroy the livelihoods of the residents–mostly pastoralists–as the insects are already damaging vegetation which is relied upon by their livestock.
“Aerial sprays drones are the only effective way because pesticides is what we used to use and are obsolete,” Keynan said.
The UN had in July last year warned of an invasion of desert locusts in Kenya and other African countries.
In a report released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the agency warned that swarms could migrate from Yemen to Kenya and the Horn of Africa by the end of the year.
The locusts multiply and spread due to weather conditions and, FAO said, this could have adverse impacts on the agricultural seasonal yields and local economies, affecting food security and livelihoods of the populations in the countries concerned.
“After becoming airborne, swarms of tens of millions of locusts can fly up to 150km a day with the wind. Desert locusts live about three months and a female locust lays about 300 eggs. A very small swarm eats the same amount of food in one day as about 35,000 people,” the report read.
Edited by R.Wamochie
