The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries has revealed that it needs of Shs16 billion to fight the latest swarms of locusts that have invaded three districts in the Teso Sub-region.
“Uganda has been invaded by a second wave of desert locust from Kenya. The desert locust entered through Amudat district on Friday April 3, 2020,” Hon. Vincent Ssempijja, Minister of Agriculture said.
The new swarm has settled in Kumi district in the parishes of Osera, and Akumu of Ongino sub county and Agule of Kumi Sub county and Agago as of yesterday April 6, 2020. The UPDF team has already been deployed in the areas and they are already spraying.
Ssempijja said the Ministry has taken various measures to control the locusts. These include; using chemicals to spray them and procuring other needed equipment.
Uganda has previously recorded nine huge swarms of desert locusts in the Northern and Eastern parts of the Country. These swarms were classified as mature locusts and did not cause significant damage to the vegetation cover. The Ministry used over Shs22 billion to fight the first invasion.