NAIROBI, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Thursday announced that the country's locust invasion will be effectively contained by mid-April.

Cyrus Oguna, government spokesperson, told journalists in Nairobi that control and containment efforts by the government in collaboration with the county governments and other development partners such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Desert Locust Control Organization for Eastern Africa (DLCEO) and the World Bank, have managed to reduce the swarms to only three.

"These have split into small swarmlets which are currently concentrated around Gilgil and Elburgon in Nakuru County. Efforts continue to be applied to ensure that the last of the swarmlet is contained," Oguna said.

Oguna revealed that a total of 25 counties had been infested by the pests in different magnitudes and there has been remarkable progress made with the containment efforts against locust invasion.

According to the government spokesperson, the first swarms crossed in November 2020 and invaded counties bordering Ethiopia and Somalia. - Xinhua