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On patrol with Kenya's locust hunters
Jun 6, 2020
Desert locusts in their millions are devouring their body weight in vegetation every day in Kenya. As spring breeding draws to a close it is now a race against time to kill their eggs before they hatch.
Tracking the insects is an art in itself, with daily surveillance operations across the country scrambling to confirm the latest coordinates of swarms before deploying spray planes to destroy them with pesticide.
Every morning, Ambrose Ng'etich (left) from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) boards a helicopter with Captain Iltasayon Neepe to locate the locust swarms in northern-central Kenya.
The migratory pests, which carried on the wind can cover 150km (95 miles) a day, have devastated crops, pasture for livestock and livelihoods in recent months.
Mr Ng'etich's job is to manage desert locust control efforts over the vast plains of Samburu, Isiolo, Laikipia and Meru. The sandy soils in this area are ideal for desert locusts to lay their eggs.
"When the sun is warm enough, then you will know the quantity you are dealing with, they are spread all over. You can even have swarms covering up to 100km," says the FAO official.
Before the coronavirus pandemic struck, it estimated that locust invasions would push more than 25 million people across East Africa into food insecurity .
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