Agricultural Ministry officials led by the Minister, Vincent Ssempijja and his junior minister in charge of agriculture, Henry Aggrey Bagiire received the equipment at Soroti Flying School grounds on Friday afternoon.
The
Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries Ministry has received a donation
worth US$ 11 Million approximately Shillings 39.6 Billion in preparations for
the anticipated second wave of Desert Locusts in the country. The
donation includes three vehicles, 22 Yamaha motorcycles, mobile phones and
chemicals among others.
Agricultural Ministry officials led by the Minister, Vincent
Ssempijja and his junior minister in charge of agriculture, Henry Aggrey Bagiire received
the equipment at Soroti Flying School grounds on Friday afternoon. The equipment from the UN Food and
Agricultural Organization- FAO and the Japan International Cooperation Agency-
JICA is expected to boost surveillance and control for the imminent invasion of
Desert Locusts, now breeding in neighbouring Kenya.
The intervention targets 22 districts of Karamoja, Teso,
Lango, Acholi and Elgon sub-regions that were hit by the first Desert Locusts
invasion in 2020. Uganda experienced three waves of Desert Locusts between
February and September last year after the first swarms entered the country
through Amudat district in Karamoja sub-region.
The last swarms of the insects were sighted in Karenga and
Kaabong districts in September, 2020. Evarist Magara, the country manager for
the Desert Locust Control Organization of East Africa, DLCO -EA says that
Uganda is likely to experience the second wave of Desert Locusts since Kenya
and Tanzania were invaded by the insects in January and February this year.
He notes that unlike last year where the insects invaded the
country through Karamoja because of the direction of the wind, the new swarms are
likely to enter the country from any direction.
//Cue in: “We are at the risk…
Cue out…is on fire,”//
Minister Ssempijja, commended the partners for their timely intervention in
Uganda, noting that the country is threatened by the insects, their invasion
has rocked almost all the neighbourhood. He notes that Uganda requires high
levels of surveillance and control measures to counter any invasion of desert
locusts.
Ssempijja revealed that the government has put up a desert locust
control strategy and contingency plan to counter locusts’ invasion that includes
sensitization and awareness creation, capacity building, surveillance-
monitoring and mapping, ground and aerial control operations and
national/regional collaborations.
//Cue in “Eastern Africa…
Cue out…counties of Kenya,”//
The FAO representative in Uganda, Antonio Querido says Uganda is one of the 14
countries in Africa battling second threat of desert locust invasion. The
others include Yemen, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan,
Tanzania and Kenya.
Querido says that FAO has conducted a detailed livelihood impact assessment of
desert locust affected areas across the 22 districts of Acholi, Elgon, Lango,
Karamoja and Teso. He says the assessment looked into the impact of desert
locusts invasion on food security and the social- economic indicators.
The
affected households, according to Querido will benefit from a number of
interventions including foodstuffs and cash for six months.
