Bayer East Africa has announced that it has donated Ksh. 100 million in pesticides to help battle locusts in East Africa. The donation has been made to the Kenyan and Ugandan governments.
The company has partnered with the Agriculture Sector Network (ASNET) and the Agrochemical Association of Kenya (AAK) to donate 170,000 litres of Deltamethrin. an active ingredient effective in combating the desert locust.
The Government of Kenya has received 120,000 litres and Uganda 50,000 litres. The entire donation, valued at Ksh. 100 million. Kenya has received Ksh. 70 million in pesticides while Uganda has received Ksh. 30 million n pesticides. The donation will enable the two governments to treat 170,000 hectares of the most affected fields.
“More than 10 million people in the East Africa region are facing acute food shortage due to locust plagues that have ravaged massive fields of food crops. With the planting season fast approaching, the locust menace still looms large. Through this donation we hope to support vulnerable smallholder farmers who are critical to food security, and are essential to our shared vision of a future where health for all, hunger for none is made possible,“ said Mr.Laurent Perrier, MD Bayer East Africa.
Earlier this year, the largest swarm that hit Kenya measured 2,400 square kilometers and was made up of 200 billion locusts. The pests consumed nearly 400,000 tons of food every 24 hours which is equivalent to what 84 million people eat each day. Desert Locusts can travel up to 130 kilometers a day in their frantic race to feed and reproduce.
The 170,000 litres of Decis ULV donated to Kenya and Uganda were produced in France, in a Bayer industrial site based in Villefranche Limas. The site specializes in the formulation, packaging and distribution of plant protection products for farmers. The product was airlifted to East Africa by Kenya Airways.