Thursday, February 25, 2021
  • Home
  • News
  • Agribusiness
  • Markets
  • Machinery
  • Technology
  • Livestock
  • Poultry
  • Fisheries
  • Fruits
  • Climate Change
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result

Swarms of locusts devastate parts of northern Kenya

Mthokozisi by Mthokozisi
July 1, 2020
in Featured, News
0
Swarms of locusts devastate parts of northern Kenya

The branches on trees around Kenya’s northern town of Lodwar have been stripped bare of leaves, bending downwards under the weight of voracious young locusts.

Numbers of locusts exploded in East Africa and the Red Sea region in late 2019, exacerbated by atypical weather patterns amplified by climate change. Swarms of insects flew west from Yemen, and this year reached Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.

The new generation has hatched in Turkana, Kenya’s poorest region. The young locusts are eating everything in sight, and when their wings mature the swarms will be able to travel up to 130 kilometres (80 miles) in a day.

The hatchings have occurred as crops are planted in a region where 20 million people struggle for food.

“The locusts have come to destabilise an already bad situation,” said Daniel Kirura, head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Turkana.

Kirura fears the swarms will spread quickly and said teams are working frantically to spray them with insecticide before they become airborne.

“Within one week they may mature to swarms that may fly away,” Kirura said. “Our wish is to control them before they leave Turkana.”

Turkana is a vast, dry scrubland in northwest Kenya that borders Uganda, South Sudan and Ethiopia. Residents say the insects are devastating farmland and grazing areas.

“These things that jump up and down came here two days ago and have eaten all the trees,” said Michael, near Turkana’s capital Lodwar. “They have even finished grass for the goats.”

Residents are beating tin drums to scare away the insects.

“They have destroyed our maize, pawpaw tree,” Christopher Lotit told Reuters. “So because they do not want noise, we use noise to get rid of them.” (Writing by Omar Mohammed; Editing by Katharine Houreld and Ed Osmond)

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Previous Post

Nigeria: Farming Agriculture Into a Wealth Creating Sector

Next Post

Cameroon recorded 500,000 tons of maize deficit in 2019

Mthokozisi

Mthokozisi

Related Posts

PERRY OPENS NEW OFFICE & TRAINING FACILITY IN UGANDA
Featured

PERRY OPENS NEW OFFICE & TRAINING FACILITY IN UGANDA

by Mthokozisi
February 9, 2021
0

  Perry of Oakley Ltd., a British company with a 73 year heritage in the design, manufacture and installation of...

Read more
VIRTO GROUP once again chooses TOMRA and renews the equipment at its main plant with eleven Nimbus BSI+ sorters

VIRTO GROUP once again chooses TOMRA and renews the equipment at its main plant with eleven Nimbus BSI+ sorters

January 13, 2021
SKF South Africa secures local agri customer’s aftermarket business for combine header gathering chain

SKF South Africa secures local agri customer’s aftermarket business for combine header gathering chain

January 13, 2021
SKF South Africa secures local agri customer’s aftermarket business for combine header gathering chain

SKF South Africa secures local agri customer’s aftermarket business for combine header gathering chain

January 13, 2021
Massey Ferguson MF 8S.265 Dyna E-Power Exclusive wins Tractor of the Year 2021

Massey Ferguson MF 8S.265 Dyna E-Power Exclusive wins Tractor of the Year 2021

January 6, 2021
VALTRA G SERIES WINS TRACTOR OF THE YEAR 2021 BEST UTILITY AWARD

VALTRA G SERIES WINS TRACTOR OF THE YEAR 2021 BEST UTILITY AWARD

January 6, 2021
Next Post
Cameroon recorded 500,000 tons of maize deficit in 2019

Cameroon recorded 500,000 tons of maize deficit in 2019

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download Our latest Issue

Like Us On Facebook

Facebook Pagelike Widget

Follow Us on Twitter

Tweets by @@Agribiz_SADC

RSS MORE NEWS

  • FAO organized a workshop in Ouagadougou “AgrInvest - Enabling inclusive and efficient private sector investments in the Burkinabè agri-food systems”
    Download logoThe AgrInvest initiative of FAO aims at attracting private investments into agri-food systems aligned with the SDGs by leveraging public funds. Under AgrInvest, FAO is implementing the project “AgrInvest-Food Systems ” (AgrInvest-FS) to foster sustainable investments in agri-food systems in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Niger, which contribute to sustainable economic growth and boost rural […]
  • The African Development Bank: a strategic partner in developing resilience and sustainable energy in the Sahel region
    Download logoThe Sahel Alliance will hold its second general assembly in N'Djamena, Chad on Monday, 15 February 2021. The meeting will take place on the side-lines of a summit for the G5 Sahel countries— Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad—as well as France. The African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) played an active role in the formation […]
  • R12.6 million in funding awarded to 17 of South Africa’s most promising Social Innovators
    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wITZdZL0pR0&w=854&h=480]Meat Naturally and Agricool Finance were awarded joint first place in the 10th Annual Social Innovation Awards, while Leafline Washable Sanitary Wear scooped first place in the Disability Empowerment Awards. All three winners were awarded R1.3 million in grant funding. A total amount of R12.6 million in grant funding and business development support was given […]
  • Joint communiqué on the critical desert locust situation and emergency response in Somalia
    On 3 February 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Federal Government of Somalia, Federal member state (FMS) ministers from Jubaland, Hirshabelle and South West States, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) held a meeting in Mogadishu to deliberate and agree on immediate actions to address the critical desert locust situation in the […]
  • African Development Bank, FAO and South Sudan’s government ink protocols for $14 million grant to boost agricultural markets
    Download logoThe African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) on Wednesday signed protocols to disburse a $14 million grant to the Government of South Sudan to boost agricultural markets in a project to be implemented by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The Agricultural Markets, Value Addition and Trade Development (AMVAT) project aims to enhance agricultural productivity […]
Facebook Twitter

About Us

SADC AGRIBUSINESS MAGAZINE

Sadc Agribusiness Magazine is Southern Africa's premier farming magazine which provides news updates and analysis of topical issues affecng large scale farming to smallholder farmers, agri-preneurs, investors, community leaders, Agric ministries, who believe in the strong role of agriculture in economic development and poverty alleviation.

Recent Posts

  • TOMRA Food launches Packhouse Academy, the fresh produce industry’s most comprehensive online learning resource
  • PERRY OPENS NEW OFFICE & TRAINING FACILITY IN UGANDA
  • VIRTO GROUP once again chooses TOMRA and renews the equipment at its main plant with eleven Nimbus BSI+ sorters
  • SKF South Africa secures local agri customer’s aftermarket business for combine header gathering chain
  • SKF South Africa secures local agri customer’s aftermarket business for combine header gathering chain

Weather

JOHANNESBURG WEATHER

© 2019 All Rights Reserved SADC Agribusiness Magazine

No Result
View All Result

© 2019 All Rights Reserved SADC Agribusiness Magazine

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In