The Government has been urged to come up with a strategy to cushion farmers in Homa Bay County against livestock deaths caused by tsetse flies.
Suba South legislator Caroli Omondi expressed concerns over rampant livestock deaths due to tsetse fly infestation in Suba South Constituency.
He said farmers in the area have been complaining over tsetse flies killing their livestock for many years.
Omondi said the tsetse flies are believed to be breeding in Ruma National Park and the outlying areas.
Speaking when he visited livestock farmers at Nyatoto Village, Honourable Omondi said that there was an urgent need to cushion livestock farmers from effects of tsetse flies’ infestation.
He said that he had petitioned the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development Mithika Linturi to put measures in place to cushion the farmers from the tsetse fly menace.
“Tsetse flies are a serious setback to livestock farmers in this area. I have presented my request to CS Linturi to intervene in the fight against tsetse flies and their effects,” Omondi said.
The measures he proposed include providing livestock farmers with drugs for treating nagana to prevent deaths of cattle bitten by the tsetse flies.
“Many farmers in this area are counting losses as a result of tsetse flies’ bite. Giving farmers’ drugs for treating nagana will save lives of many cattle and that is what we want the government to do for us here,” Omondi said.
The legislator noted that another strategy is laying traps for catching and killing tsetse flies in the area.
The MP also wants the government to come up with a compensation scheme for farmers whose livestock are killed by tsetse flies.
“The compensation will give them morale to continue with the economic activity besides cushioning them from the losses,” Omondi said.
The MP said he had also presented the matter to the National Assembly for deliberation on how to tackle tsetse flies menance in the area.
The livestock are key to the local economy for milk production, beef production and cultivation.
Meanwhile, Lake Victoria South Water Works Development Agency Chairman Odoyo Owidi has urged residents of Homa Bay to support the Kenya Kwanza government.
Owidi argued that it is through working with the government that residents can benefit from development projects.
“Let us support the government and shun calls from any politician who wants the people to participate in demonstrations,” Owidi said.
He spoke during the distribution of relief food for Suba South residents at Nyatoto Secondary School.
By Davis Langat
