ISIOLO, 3 July 2008 (IRIN) - Almost 70 percent of crops planted in several districts of northern Kenya this year, as well as grazing pasture, have been damaged by armyworms, the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) and local sources said.

"Armyworm infestation has wiped out pasture in a wide area of the affected districts [and] worsened the current shortage caused by drought," KRCS regional manager Abdinoor Mohamed said.

The worst-affected districts include Isiolo, Mandera, Marsabit and Wajir, where the infestation has further undermined food security in the relatively dry, largely pastoralist region. Also affected were Obbu and Uran areas of Moyale District.

Mohamed said the maize crop, teff (a cereal grain native to Ethiopia) and small-scale onion farms, which have in the past sustained poor families that had lost livestock either to drought or to banditry, have been consumed by the worms.

Efforts had, however, begun to spray the affected areas, sensitise farmers on use of chemicals, distribute spray pumps and mobilise technical staff, despite inadequate transport in Moyale.

Chemicals were also in short supply in Isiolo, while the sprayers did not have enough protective clothing or hand sprayers.

"Food insecurity has increased as a result, and made worse the situation for poor families who cannot afford food at current high prices," said Nurow Godana, the Arid Lands project's special programme officer in Isiolo.

"We have so far requested and managed to get relief food support for the affected families," he told IRIN on 2 July.

Massive failure of crops using small-scale irrigation was reported in Gambella, Kinna and Bullesdima areas, near Isiolo. The armyworms, Godana added, had deprived many households of income and food.

Mohamed Molu, a small farmer at Shambolle in Marsabit, said he had lost all his onions and maize. "Just two weeks ago I was confident that I would make good money by selling my harvest at the current high prices and pay fees for my two children," he said.

"It is all a different story now," he added. "At the moment I am worried about my family. I have applied for a school fees bursary; our chief also presented our request for food assistance last week but we have yet to get any assistance."

At Gambella, Ali Wario, who had just ventured into crop farming after losing his livestock to bandits, told IRIN: "It seems human enemies are found everywhere. While herding [livestock] I used to fear bandits; now the worms have taken all my crops."

Armyworms, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, are caterpillars that develop into nocturnal moths. The moths can migrate thousands of kilometres, covering more than 100km a night.

The worms, known scientifically as spodoptera exempata, eat crops and other plants as they move.

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