A surveillance team (pictured above) from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) is traversing Uganda-Kenya border areas in Karamoja Sub-region to assess the situation and also sensitize local leaders on effective ways of managing locusts.
Last week, Government of Uganda advised the public to stock up enough food as a precautionary measure following reports from Kenya which indicated that locusts have now reached the Samburu and Turkana areas that are close to the Uganda-Kenya border.
Turkana is about 166km from Karamoja, meaning the locusts can reach Uganda in less than two days.
Locusts
can cover as much as 150km a day and a swarm can destroy crops sufficient to
feed 2,500 people for a year, according to the United Nations.
Experts estimate that the insects are capable of destroying at least 200 tonnes
of vegetation per day.
Since the invasion in Kenya early last month, MAAIF has been issuing warning alerts to local leaders in Karamoja and eastern Uganda to report to the nearest extension staff any ‘strange grasshoppers’ detected in their areas.
-Agric Ministry
