Government stocks chemicals for combating locusts

The ministry of Agriculture is stocking pesticides to fight desert locusts as they approach Uganda from the eastern border, a senior official has said.

“We are in touch with the importers in Kenya because you cannot stock the chemicals here,” Mr Stephen Byantwale, the commissioner for crop protection, said in a telephone interview yesterday.

“We don’t have aircraft here in Uganda to spray the locusts,” he added.

Mr Byantwale revealed that the ministry is working with the Desert Locust Control Organisation of East Africa (DLCO-EA), the body that provides aircraft for combating pests in East African region, whose base is in Nairobi, Kenya.

However, Mr Evarist Magara, the Uganda representative to DLCO-EA, said limited financial commitment from the government of Uganda would complicate the possibility of assistance from the locust control body.

“Our job is to bring in spray aircraft if government pays up the debts (Shs18b). But no single resource has been released for the cause yet,” Mr Magara said.

According to the official update from DLCO-EA yesterday, swarms in Kenya are not yet showing any signs of abating and the risk of reaching Uganda is high.

“There is need to upscale control operations in Kenya with more resources as the swarms are not yet showing any signs of decline. Chances of further spread inside Kenya and to neighbouring countries such as Uganda and South Sudan are still high,” the press release read.
Not all swarms coming into Kenya are observed and followed due to big stretch of the border areas, according to DLCO-EA.
Mr Byantwale, however, said the winds have been deflecting the insects back into Kenya.

“They are still within Turkana and Pokot areas. But now the winds are beginning to deflect them and the aircrafts are hammering them properly,” the commissioner said.

The locusts are around 160km away from the Uganda border, according to Mr Byantwale.

Mr Magara said the government of Kenya has opted for alternative chemicals because the most effective ones are not fully stocked by manufacturers. “Due to limited supply of the pesticide, Fenitrothion, that is mostly recommended, the Kenya went in for other pesticides that may not be so good but doing a fair job,” he said.

Mr Magara added that the expertise used in spraying also matters. “The percentage of killing varies from place to place by the type of pesticide applied as well as the sprayer’s expertise,” he said.

Somalia efforts
Somalia on Sunday declared a national state of emergency following extreme destruction and upsurge of desert locusts in the country. Somalia’s declaration came a day after Pakistan made the same declaration.

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