• The first desert locust invasion was reported in December last year in Mandera county and the country swung into action to control further infestation.
• Hamisi Williams, deputy country representative for FAO Kenya, said for nearly six months, the battle has been fought in the sky through aerial spraying and on the ground using scouts.
Image: Courtesy: FAO
The quick response to control desert locusts in Kenya may have saved the continent from disaster, the Food and Agriculture Organization has said.
The first desert locust invasion was reported in December last year in Mandera county and the country swung into action to control further infestation.
Hamisi Williams, deputy country representative for FAO Kenya, said for nearly six months, the battle has been fought in the sky through aerial spraying and on the ground using scouts.
“This quick response to control desert locusts in Kenya may have saved the continent from disaster. If Kenya had not acted as quickly as it did, we would now have swarms being reported in West Africa,” he told journalists last week.
By the end of March, the migratory pests had invaded 28 counties, threatening food security and community livelihoods. But as control efforts intensified, the number of swarms in the country significantly dropped.
“We are getting few reports of desert locusts from Turkana and Samburu, sometimes like two or three swarms. This is from high of 200 to 400 swarms when infestation was at the peak,” Hamisi said.
According to the desert locust update released on Friday, the situation is improving in parts of East Africa and Southwest Asia.
“Nevertheless, the situation remains serious in Yemen (where hopper bands and swarms continue to be present) and other areas of the Horn of Africa. The developing situation is being watched closely along both sides of the Red Sea where it could deteriorate as a result of swarm breeding,” FAO's locust watch reported.
But FAO said Kenya is not out of the woods yet as a small third generation of breeding is likely to start in October.
“Only a few immature swarms remain in northwest Kenya where aerial control operations continue. A small third generation of breeding is likely to commence in October but may be limited by below-normal short-rains that are predicted for this year,” FAO locust watch stated.
Hamisi said the weather may contribute to another infestation but this will also depend on what happens in Ethiopia, northern part of Somalia and Yemen.
“This is because the swarms that came to Kenya in December 2019 were not born and bred here but they came by wind. We have the southerly wind coming again in late November-December. So if there are still swarms out there in Ethiopia and Yemen, we cannot rule out the possibility of wind bringing them back,” he said.
He added that discussions are ongoing in Yemen to support them with pesticides so that they are able to deal with the situation.
“This is a critical point for the Horn of Africa and if they don’t deal with it well, the possibilities that winds will pick this across the Gulf of Eden and land in the Horn of Africa would be there,” Hamisi said.