STATUS BRIEF OF DESERT LOCUST AND ITS MANAGEMENT IN KENYA -21ST JANUARY, 2021
Ladies and gentlemen of the press, welcome to this media briefing.
As you may be aware, the Country is under the second wave of Desert locust invasion which entered from Ethiopia and Somalia in mid-November 2020. To date, 15 Counties have reported desert locust invasion, namely: Marsabit, Wajir, Garissa, Tana River, Lamu, Kilifi, Taita Taveta, Mandera, Machakos, Kitui, Isiolo, Samburu, Laikipia, Meru and Tharaka Nithi.
So far, the total number of swarms that settled in the Country between November 2020 and January 2021 are 75; out of which 66 have been treated reflecting a total area of 19,100Ha. The exercise has thus largely been successful.
Ladies and gentlemen,
As I indicated in Naivasha last year, the Government preparedness on Desert locust management has been greatly enhanced.
The Government has;
· Established eight (8) control bases strategically in Isiolo, Marsabit, Masinga, Garissa, Turkana (Lodwar), Mandera, Lamu (Witu) and Wajir to coordinate desert locust management operations.
· Deployed nine (9) surveillance and spray aircrafts and three (3) are on standby.
· Deployed 21 vehicles mounted with sprayers for ground control operations in the various bases.
· Sufficient control pesticides both at the headquarters and all the field control bases to handle the Desert locust invasion and where necessary will purchase more.
Working with partners and FAO, the Government has trained over 500 NYS personnel who have been deployed in all the field bases in the Country. 500 more NYS personnel will be trained and deployed in the next two months
Ladies and gentlemen,
We want to thank all the partners who are working with us including FAO, KDF, DLCO-EA, NYS among others.
The support we have received from these partners include, Financial resources, Expertise, Research, Capacity building, Security, Restoration of livelihoods, Surveillance and control among others.
We want to reassure Kenyans that the Government is adequately prepared to combat the Desert locust invasion in the Country.
Thank you.