18 March 2021
Locusts invaded northern Kenya at the end of January – just at harvest time – devouring field crops, vegetables, cattle fodder and grazing land in the affected parts of the country. This blow followed the 2020 plague of locusts, which was the worst for many decades.
Feed families, restore farms
Working with our Kenyan project partners, Barnabas Fund is seeking to assist vulnerable Christian families affected by locusts, beginning with 1,000 families in Mbeere and Embu on the semi-arid eastern slopes of Mount Kenya. The aim is to help these subsistence farmers speedily restore their crop and livestock production. As well as seeds, we will provide fertiliser and appropriate pesticides to deal with the locust eggs left in the soil and the surge in other pests that usually follows after a locust swarm has swept through.
The Barnabas Fund will also provide food relief in the form of maize, beans and greengrams (mung beans) which are combined to make “getheri”, the staple food of the Mount Kenya region. This will help the families survive until August, when the next harvest is due.
