NAIROBI, Kenya, May 13- Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya has assured that the locusts’ menace in the country has been contained with remnants of the insects being dealt with in 4 counties.
Munya told a news conference on Wednesday that counties fighting the invasion include Samburu, Marsabit, Turkana and Isiolo.
“Our efforts to eradicate them even in those counties are still on, we have our teams on the ground spraying and giving reports. We want to thank all our teams both in the county and national levels for their contribution in making these efforts successful,” said Munya.
He told reporters that the assessment team, including the Kenya Red Cross Society, has now been tasked with assessing the damage caused by locusts’ invasion.
“I welcome the red cross who are our new partner in this assessment work. This work is going to involve assessing the impact of our intervention, did we do it well, and where did we go wrong so apart from assessing the damage, they will also be looking at the work we have done so far and the effectiveness of those interventions,” Munya said.
Munya pointed out that surveillance teams had successfully identified breeding sites in the remaining four counties and they are doing their best to contain them.
Other counties which were infected include; Meru, Kitui, Machakos, Garissa, Baringo, Embu, Tharaka Nithi, Makueni, Laikipia, Elgeyo Marakwet, West Pokot, Trans Nzoia, Bungoma, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Mandera, Kajiado, Wajir, Kericho, Nyandarua, Uasin Gishu, Kisumu and Kakamega.
Last month, the CS described the locust invasion as the worst hit in Kenya in 70 years.
Munya said the infestation is a threat to food security and community livelihood since a swarm of half a million locusts can consume one metric tonne of food in a day, which is enough to feed 2500 people.
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