NAIROBI, March 13 (NNN-KBC) — The Government of Kenya in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will Monday hand over a new agricultural aircraft to Desert Locust Control Organization for Eastern Africa (DLCO-EA).
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi and Jingyuan Xia, the Director of Plant Production and Protection Division at FAO are among those expected to grace the handover ceremony to be held at the Wilson Airport.
The aircraft, purchased by FAO at a cost of 1.7 million USD with the support of finance partners in the context of the FAO Desert Locust Emergency Response will be used in the Eastern Africa region to control future invasions.
The aircraft will improve the capacity and preparedness of the Desert Locust Control Organization and its member states to rapidly respond to new emergencies.
The FAO Desert Locust Control Committee was established in 1955 by the FAO Director-General as a global advisory and coordinating body on Desert Locust early warning, monitoring, control, and emergency preparedness.
The committee supported Kenya in controling the desert locust invasion in 2019 and 2020 when desert locust swarms invaded the country for the first time in 70 years.
Kenya was among the most severely affected countries during the Desert Locust upsurge, and despite its limited locust management capacity, the country managed to successfully prevent widespread locust crop damage. — NNN-KBC
