This archive report was first published on 27 June 2020.
Kenya's Ministry of Agriculture has issued a warning about the threat of desert locust swarms in three counties: Turkana, Marsabit, and Samburu. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has also cautioned that the swarms could soon find their way to West Africa, urging countries in the region to take precautionary measures.
According to Prof Hamadi Boga, Principal Secretary of the State Department for Agricultural Research in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation, the situation remains precarious, with locusts affecting crops and plants in Tharaka Nithi, Makueni, Embu, and Meru counties.
Prof Boga warned that the fight against the locusts was not yet over, as the insect's migratory lifestyle remains unpredictable and dangerous to food security. He also noted that recent forecasts by FAO have indicated a risk of locust invasion in West Africa from June 2020.
FAO's Cyril Ferrand, head of the resilience team in East Africa, stated that many countries now being hit by swarms of the pests have not seen locusts in recent memory and do not have the expertise to deal with them. Sahal Farah of Docol, an International Rescue Committee partner organisation, described the locust invasion as the worst in their generation.
It is estimated that some swarms could reach the eastern part of the Sahel and continue westwards from Chad to Mauritania. The threat is expected to decline progressively during the next four weeks.
