Locusts invade Tana River, wipe out acres of vegetation

Locusts have now spread to Tana River County, with locals in Bura Dhima village, Mbalambala area reporting that the insects have cleared vegetation covering three kilometres since Sunday.

In the past few days, the locusts have wreaked havoc in muguka farms in Embu County as authorities intensified aerial spraying to counter the menace.

The insects have continued to spread to several parts of the country despite intervention via aerial spraying. They first entered Kenya through the northern region from neighbouring Somalia and Ethiopia.

Billions of locusts are swarming through the region in what is being described as the worst invasion in recent times.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned that if unchecked, the swarms will continue to spread and could multiply 500 times by June as the recent heavy rains in the region created ideal conditions for them to breed.