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Saturday, September 5, 2020
Kenyan government, private sector converge to end locust menace
By Standard Reporter
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.
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.
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