This archive report was first published on 30 November 2019.
Located about a kilometre from Shimba Hill Park, an evergreen conservation facility in Kwale County, Tangini village has seen a significant reduction in tsetse fly prevalence, thanks to research work by scientists from the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (Icipe).
According to Dr Michael Okal, a disease vector ecologist at Icipe, the technology to curb tsetse flies was developed after realising that the flies disliked the smell of a waterbuck. The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine-trained scientist explained that the flies use the sense of smell to selectively bite animals, and therefore, selected the body odour of the waterbuck that the flies don't bite.
The technology involves introducing four chemicals on a material resembling foam, which are released at a slow rate as the waterbuck does. When a tsetse fly approaches an animal wearing the collar, the technology releases a repellent from dispensers that smell like the waterbuck, pushing away the flies but not killing them.
Residents like Josephine Wayua, a widow, have benefited from the technology, keeping 12 cattle and earning income by selling milk and ploughing residents' farms at Sh2,500 per acre. The repellent, fitted on cattle collar, repulses any flies that target to bite the animals, and Wayua can identify the flies and set traps to complement the collar.
Wayua, who received training from Icipe, notes that the livestock pens should be kept clean and dried droppings removed and used as manure to keep away the flies. The technology is sustainable since bio-pesticides are used, and the repellent lasts six months, after which the farmer refills at Sh80.
