Farmers fight back: Making animal feed from a locust plague

A swarm of desert locusts fly near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, January 31, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Kenya is battling some of the worst locust plagues in decades, but start-up The Bug Picture hopes to transform the pests into profits and bring "hope to the hopeless" whose crops and livelihoods are being destroyed by the insects.

Unusual weather patterns exacerbated by climate change have created ideal conditions for surging locust numbers, which have destroyed crops and grazing grounds across East Africa and the Horn.

A man tries to chase away a swarm of desert locusts away from a farm, near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, February 1, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Scientists say warmer seas are creating more rain, waking dormant eggs, and cyclones that disperse the swarms are getting stronger and more frequent.

The Bug Picture is working with communities around the area of Laikipia, Isiolo and Samburu in central Kenya to harvest the insects and mill them, turning them into protein-rich animal feed and organic fertilizer for farms.

"We are trying to create hope in a hopeless situation, and help these communities alter their perspective to see these insects as a seasonal crop that can be harvested and sold for money," said Laura Stanford, founder of The Bug Picture.

A man riding a motorcycle drives through a swarm of desert locusts near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, February 1, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

In central Kenya's Laikipia, clouds of locusts are devouring crops and other vegetation. The Bug Picture is targeting swarms of 5 hectares or less in inhabited areas not suitable for spraying.

Swarms can travel up to 150 km (93 miles) a day and can contain between 40-80 million locusts per square kilometre.

"They destroy all the crops when they get into the farms. Sometimes they are so many, you cannot tell them apart, which are crops and which are locusts," said farmer Joseph Mejia.

A child tries to chase away a swarm of desert locusts in Naiperere, near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, January 30, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

The Bug Picture pays Mejia and his neighbours 50 Kenyan shillings ($0.4566) per kilogram of the insects. Between Feb. 1-18, the project oversaw the harvest of 1.3 tons of locusts, according to Stanford, who said she was inspired by a project in Pakistan, overseen by the state-run Pakistan Agricultural Research Council.

The locusts are collected at night by torchlight when they are resting on shrubs and trees.

"The community ... are collecting locusts, once they (are collected) they are weighed and paid," said Albert Lemasulani, a field coordinator with the start-up.

Desert locusts rest on tree branches near the town of Nanyuki, Kenya, January 31, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

The insects are crushed and dried, then milled and processed into powder, which is used in animal feed or an organic fertiliser.

(Reporting by Baz Ratner; Writing by Omar Mohammed; Editing by Katharine Houreld and Raissa Kasolowsky)

A man tries to chase away a swarm of desert locusts in Naiperere, near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, January 30, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

A swarm of desert locusts engulf a high voltage electricity transmission tower near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, January 31, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Men use a net to harvest desert locusts, near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, February 1, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Desert locusts caught during a harvest are stored inside a sack near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, February 1, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

A man carries a sack on his shoulder, filled with desert locusts that he harvested, near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, February 1, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

People load a pick-up truck with sacks filled with harvested desert locusts near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, February 1, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Philip Ouma, a laboratory manager, tests the nutritional value of desert locusts at the laboratory Spectralab, in Nairobi, Kenya, February 16, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Philip Ouma, a laboratory manager, tests the nutritional value of desert locusts at the laboratory Spectralab, in Nairobi, Kenya, February 16, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Dishes containing ground desert locusts are dried inside a furnace at the laboratory Spectralab in Nairobi, Kenya, February 16, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Philip Ouma, a laboratory manager, holds a dish containing ground desert locusts at the laboratory Spectralab, in Nairobi, Kenya, February 16, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

A chicken feeds on crushed desert locusts after they were left out to dry, before the locusts are made into animal feed, at a farm near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, February 3, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

A man harvests desert locusts, near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, February 1, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

A Samburu warrior poses for a photo as desert locusts swarm around him in Angata E Kitenya, near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, February 3, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Workers use a barrel to crush sacks filled with harvested desert locusts, at a farm near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, February 1, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

A man uses a flashlight while harvesting desert locusts, near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, February 1, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

A swarm of desert locusts fly next to a herd of zebras near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, January 31, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Desert locusts fly past a dik-dik antelope near the town of Nanyuki, Kenya, January 31, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Joseph Mejia, a farmer, holds a flashlight in his mouth while harvesting desert locusts near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, February 1, 2021. "They destroy all the crops when they get into the farms. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

A man engulfed by a swarm of desert locusts, stands on top of a hill near Nanyuki, Kenya, January 30, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner