Kenya turns to digital technology to fight desert locusts

Kenya has turned to using mobile technology to track and report desert locusts which are still ravaging some parts of the country.

The state, in collaboration with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (Fao) and other partners, has deployed a multi-pronged approach to wipe out the pests.

Disaster response teams and experts from both the Ministry of Agriculture, Fao, and the public are at the centre of the battle to defeat the voracious pest.

Ground and aerial surveillance and spray campaigns have been mounted with teams operating round the clock to clear the destructive insects.

Before the actual spraying is done, ground and aerial surveillance is done the previous evening to locate the locust swarms.

Locust scouts

A team of locust scouts have been trained by Fao and the Samburu County government to spot and report sightings using a new application called E-Locust.

The scouts, upon sighting the pests, take photos and videos of the locusts in the field and uploads the images onto the E-Locust app.

The information that is collected is sent in real-time to a database in a locusts control centre in Nairobi or Fao headquarters, which is then used by another team deployed to spray the insects with pesticides, either using ground or aerial spraying.

'When we get information from the scouts, we now use the E-Locust app to take the videos or even photos. The information that we send using the app is then relayed to the scientists and other teams who will rely on it to establish the stages of locusts and the best way to kill them,” explained Mr Mike Lesingiran, who also coordinates field surveillance in Samburu.

Record location

The app was launched by Fao in response to growing fears that the locust infestations are threatening food security and livelihoods in Kenya.

The app can recognise locusts and grasshopper pests through a smartphone camera and record their GPS location.

Samburu County Special Programmes Chief Officer Daniel Lesaigor said the aim is for surveillance teams to use the app to record the location and volume of locusts to enable a targeted delivery of pesticides to prevent swarms from spreading.

After locating the swarms, spray teams are sent to the location to kill the pests.

“The technology is reliable. We get to know the stages of the locusts and where to target in our aerial spray,” Mr Lesaigor said.

He added that the use of technology to spot locusts during their lifecycle to prevent a swarm from emerging is very important in the management of desert locusts.

The technology has now shifted to the use of drones mounted with cameras and atomisers to spray the hopper bands. Mr Lesaigor noted that drones are the best in killing hoppers.

Humanitarian crisis

Projections also indicate that Samburu region could be on the verge of a humanitarian crisis in the wake of a possible drought in December and if huge swarms of locusts devouring crops and pasture are not brought under control.

There are fears that the third wave of the locusts will multiply further and descend on farms and pasturelands in the semi-arid region which is already grappling with the prolonged drought.

Thousands of pastoralists in Samburu are already vulnerable, or in serious humanitarian need, as they endure the impact of the Covid-19 and prolonged drought and floods, according to the county’s Special Programmes department.

Millions of the voracious insects have swept across East Africa in what Fao termed as the worst outbreak in a quarter of a century.

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