Fight against locusts goes digital with launch of eLocust3

Counties that suffered desert locust invasion early this year and the ones that are still battling the insects have embarked on intensive training of scouts to monitor their movement as United Nations agency warns of more swarms.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) last week warned that the current situation in East Africa remains extremely alarming as more swarms mature in Ethiopia and northern and central Kenya.

Speaking to the Nation, Tharaka-Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki, who is also the Council of Governors’ Agriculture Committee chairman, said the scouts are being trained on monitoring the movement and age of the insects and any other knowledge important in battling the locusts.

He said the scouts are being trained to report using a digital platform known as eLocust3 that is an application installed in a smartphone.

Once the data has been fed into the system, it’s transmitted via satellite from the field site to the national locust centre and at FAO headquarters in Rome in real time for an immediate and effective action.

Mr Njuki said in every county, the scouts are drawn from across the region to ensure that reports are made immediately there is an invasion.

“In Tharaka-Nithi County we have identified 30 scouts; ten from Maara and Chuka sub counties, the other 10 from Tharaka South and Igambang’ombe sub counties and the rest from Tharaka-North Sub County,” Njuki said.

He said last time most of the counties were caught off-guard and leaders only relied on local media for alerts.

He added that the information from media was sometimes not timely and could not inform good decisions because it was not detailed.

Mr Njuki said the scouts will be able to give information on the invaded area, the age of the insects and give other details that will help government make proper decisions.

He said according to FAO, there is a new generation of locusts in counties that were not fumigated, the nymphs that hatched following the January-March invasion.

He said it’s projected that new swarms are expected in many counties by late June and July when plenty of mature crops will be in farms and may cause havoc.

He said it’s unfortunate that in some counties like Samburu, Isiolo and Marsabit, the hoppers are already mature and mass breeding is expected if they are not hurriedly destroyed.

He however said though government is on high alert, the ongoing heavy rain is likely to hinder meaningful action because it’s impossible to spray during heavy rain.

“According to experts, rainfall and warmer temperatures provide favourable conditions for the breeding of locusts and that is why we must be prepared for the worst,” he said.

Njuki said the insects are a big threat to food security in the country and that there is need for serious actions.

The governor said in Tharaka-Nithi County alone, farmers lost at least 2,403 metric tonnes of food crops to the insects between January and March in which more than 30,000 acres were invaded in Tharaka North Sub-County.

He, however, said the county government in collaboration with the national government managed to spray all the nymphs that hatched from the eggs that were laid in the 30,000 acres.