By LUKE ANAMI

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This year has so far seen the region devastated by the triple menace of the coronavirus, floods and locusts.

Kenya’s budgetary allocations for the 2020/21 financial year have included funds towards overcoming these natural calamities. Kenya has allocated Ksh48 billion ($480 million) to agriculture, and an additional Ksh4.3 billion ($43 million) from the World Bank has been set aside to combat the spread of the desert locust.

“We are dealing with a triple menace of coronavirus, locusts and floods, which has made it difficult to focus on other sectors,” said Ukur Yatani, Kenya’s Treasury Cabinet Secretary in an interview on Wednesday.

In his budget presentation last week, Mr Yatani said the money allocated would address the challenges posed by locusts and floods.

“We have released a stimulus package to deal with the specific effects of the locusts and floods that devastated many counties,” he said.

In the face of the locust attack, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) increased the amount of money it has asked of partners from $76 million to $153 million between January and December 2020.

While a mere fraction of the amount was spent nearly two decades ago, today FAO is short by $42 million. Kenya’s allocation is $21.4 million.

“The fight against locusts received Ksh4.3 billion ($43 million) from the World Bank. We have another Ksh1.5 billion ($15 million) from the e-subsidy. This is through the e-voucher,” said Hamadi Boga, Principal Secretary in the State Department for Crop Development and Agriculture Research.

FAO has warned that Turkana in northern Kenya is now the epicentre of desert locust control measures, with the highest number of hopper band sites reported.

“It is important for Turkana to intensify control measures to ensure that the desert locusts do not mature and continue to compound the threat to Kenya’s and East Africa’s food security,” said Dr Tobias Takavarasha, FAO Representative to Kenya.