In a classic case of ‘Set a thief to catch a thief,’ Kenya appears to be solving one problem using another, achieving a unprecedented level of synergy. This is where you turn your enemy against another enemy, then sitting back to watch the battle unfold.
That appears to be the situation in Kenya when a possible Armageddon brought about by locust invasion into the country was averted by Covid-19 outbreak.
In the latest updates from the Ministry of Agriculture, Kenya has announced that the many locusts that have threatened the existence of the country are no longer a threat as they are all working from home.
“The locusts that were everywhere have now been forced to work from home, thus no longer a threat to our farms,” said one Ministry of Agriculture official. “With the social distancing measures, the locusts can longer move in swarms and are therefore not a threat to anybody in Kenya.”
The information was a reprieve to Kenya which has been on a brink of famine, with the hope that the current semi lockdown condition will be extended for as long as possible in order to starve the locusts to death.
This is not the first time locusts are facing difficulties in achieving a reasonable market penetration into East Africa. Currently, Uganda is using Bitcoin to fight the insects while Tanzania denied the insects landing rights, effectively locking them out of the country. In Kenya, Al Shabaab has also prevented their rapid spread, leaving them with very little options.
It remains to be seen of the lockdown will rid Kenya off both locusts and corona virus.