Swarms of desert locusts have spread from Ethiopia and Somalia into eastern and northern Kenya, posing a threat to food production and grazing land, its agriculture minister said on Friday.
The locusts began crossing into Kenya around December 28, initially destroying pastures in semi-arid counties mainly occupied by herder communities.
They have since spread to the counties of Garissa, Isiolo and Samburu to the south and west, Agriculture Minister Mwangi Kiunjuri said.
“We recognize that the pest invasion and the potential to spread rapidly to other counties pose unprecedented threat to food security and livelihood in the country,” he said.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a Jan. 6 update that while swarms of locusts in Somalia are expected to mature and breed there this month, there is a low risk that those in Kenya would breed.
FAO said there is also a risk that swarms could move into Kenya’s neighbours Uganda and South Sudan.
Last month, the FAO said locusts had already destroyed over 70 000 hectares of farmland in Somalia and Ethiopia, also threatening food supplies in both countries in the worst locust invasion in 70 years.
