KISUMU, Kenya, Feb 18 – A desert locusts invasion was Tuesday reported in Muhoroni sub-county within Kisumu County causing panic among farmers.
Farmers in the area now want a quick intervention by the county and national governments to avert the destruction of crops.
Muhoroni Deputy County Commissioner Erick Wanyonyi confirmed the locusts were sighted at Kamarawa village, Wang’aya I sub-location in Nyang’oma location of Miwani Division.
“I made contacts with relevant offices and officers are on the ground,” he said.
Farmers in Muhoroni, the county’s key food basket, practice horticultural crop and livestock farming.
It is also a cane growing area hosting sugar mills including Chemelil, Muhoroni and Miwani.
Wanyonyi said the locusts were seen perching on trees in large numbers causing panic among residents.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya had Sunday urged for calm insisting that ravaging locusts posed no imminent threat to the country’s food security.
“We’ve conducted an aerial surveillance and ascertained that the yellow locusts you see around are very old and are actually nearing the end of their lifespan,” he said.
“These old locusts pose no threat. I want you to understand the science of locusts. They’re about to hatch their eggs and so they’re just going to fly to where they’ll hatch,” the Cabinet Secretary who spoke in Karambari village, Mbeere North, in Embu indicated.
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