Kenya will need an estimated Sh12.7 billion to completely eradicate tsetse flies from all the regions in the country, an official has said.
Pamela Olet, the national director of Kentec, over the weekend said that 38 out of the country’s 47 counties are infested with tsetse flies.
Speaking during the closing ceremony of a three-day training on tsetse fly control at the Dairy Training Institute in Naivasha, Olet said that the insects were greatly affecting tourism in the country.
“In the last two years, there are three tourists who picked the disease from Mara Serengeti. This led to travel advisories from many countries which interfered with the flow of tourism. It is a serious yet neglected disease in the country,” she said.
Olet said that in a bid to improve tourism in the area, the organisation had partnered with Kenya Wildlife Service to eradicate the insect from national parks.
“We have helped them restock the black rhino in Meru after they left Ruma National park due to tsetse flies,” she said.
Olet added that they were targeting livestock farmers to ensure that their animals are not infected.
“We intend to help livestock breeders produce better quality of meat as was the case in Botswana.”
The government has allocated a total of Sh600 million towards fighting of tsetse flies in the country in the last five years.