ASNET Chairman Bimal Kantaria (PHOTO: FILE)
Kenya is leading East Africa in combating the second wave of locusts’ invasion that threatens food security and livelihoods.
In a programme led by the government and Agriculture Sector Network (ASNET), crop science multinational Bayer East Africa this week donated some 170,000 litres of Delmathrin, an active ingredient effective in combating the desert locust, to Kenya and Uganda as the region prepares for the infestation.
Kenya has received 120,000 litres and Uganda 50,000 litres; valued at approximately Sh100 million targeting some 170,000 hectares of the most vulnerable fields for the upcoming planting season.
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The effort brings together the state, private sector, development partners and diplomatic corps in a cross-border multi-agency programme coordinated by ASNET to combat the swarming migratory pest known to decimate vegetation leaving massive destruction in its wake.
ASNET Chair Bimal Kantaria said the combined efforts in combating the locusts in the region attests to what the future holds in creating a responsive vibrant agriculture industry not just in Kenya but in the entire Eastern Africa region. He disclosed that plans are under way to a form a regional agriculture association borrowing on the ASNET platform that has in four months since formation in February shown organisations can come together for a cause.
It is estimated that some 2 billion locusts invaded Kenya early this year in what Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya mentioned in his speech as the largest in 70 years destroying 400, 000 tonnes of produce, putting not only the country’s food security at high risk but also impacting negatively to the national economic development that is reeling under the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Food Agriculture Organisation has warned the region to prepare for a second wave of infestation, and it was in readiness for the warning ASNET has mobilised leaders in crop protection to avert a possible disaster.
More than 10 million people in the East Africa region are facing acute food shortage due to locust plagues that have ravaged massive fields of food crops. With the planting season fast approaching, the locust menace still looms large. Through this donation we hope to support vulnerable smallholder farmers who are critical to food security, and are essential to our shared vision of a future where health for all, hunger for none is made possible,“ said Mr.Laurent Perrier, MD Bayer East Africa.
Business leader Chris Kirubi lauded the effort terming it as solution oriented, the practical approach to tackling challenges that dog the agriculture sector hampering its potential to fully support economic development. He reiterated that had the region prepared to tackle the first invasion, we would have averted the losses. He described the current preparedness as” offering a solution before the problem comes“.
The Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency CEO Dr Wilfred Marube said the effort is critical for securing export agriculture, the mainstay of the country’s foreign exchange earnings in addition to protecting food crops.
Agriculture Chief Administrative Secretary Jebii Kilimo, representing Mr Munya said for the first time in Kenya, government and private sector can coordinate the agriculture transformative agenda after the formation of ASNET, the organization that has brought stakeholders together to ease flow of intervention measures and map areas requiring attention.
The event was also attended by the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research organization, the Kenya Private Sector Alliance, USAID, France and German embassies; plus the Agrochemical Association of Kenya.
