Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture, on Thursday, January 21, 2021 said that the second wave outbreak of desert locusts’ invasion in the country was under control, thanks to timely roll-out of mitigation measures.
Peter Munya, the Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives, who disclosed this at a news briefing, in Nairobi, added that that there was no cause for alarm since the government preparedness for desert locust management had been greatly enhanced.
“The desert locust invasion has been reported in 15 counties in the coastal, northeastern, eastern and central Kenya, but so far the counter operation has been successful,” Munya said.
He said the second wave of desert locusts entered the country from Ethiopia and Somalia in mid-Nov. 2020.
“We have deployed nine surveillance and spray aircrafts and put another three aircrafts on standby,” said Munya.
He said the government had also deployed 21 vehicles mounted with sprayers for ground control operations in counties affected by the desert locusts.
Munya said development partners had provided support in diverse areas like training of personnel, knowledge sharing, research, restoration of livelihoods, surveillance and control.
He said the government had trained more than 500 National Youth Service personnel, who have been deployed in all fields countrywide.
