Farmers in Ratta, Seme, Kisumu County, are appealing for urgent government intervention and relief food after aggressive monkeys invaded their farms and destroyed their crops, pushing the community to food insecurity.
The residents raised alarm on the monkey menace on Tuesday Dec 9, and reported that the raids had persisted for months, causing heavy destruction that had sharply reduced harvests across the village.
One farmer reiterated that the monkeys had eaten almost everything and that he will barely have any food by January next year.
“I’ve planted maize in two farms, but I won’t be able to store any in my house, I’ll eat everything. The monkeys have consumed everything. So if it reaches January, the farm produce will be finished even before I taste anything,” he said.
Residents reported that the monkeys had grown increasingly bold and at times aggressive, even attacking dogs that attempted to guard the farms.
“A day ago, I cooked some cassava for my children, and then the monkeys came and consumed everything. The children went to school hungry", said another farmer.
The invasions had forced farmers to spend long hours in their fields, a trend seen in other affected regions where households had abandoned their daily routines to protect their crops and properties.
Desperate farmers armed themselves with slingshots, catapults, and dogs, and also used rattling metal tins and chilli walls to deter the animals, but these methods provided only short-term relief.
Residents said that despite the escalating losses, their attempts to reach local leaders for assistance had not been successful.
They added that efforts to contact the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) had also gone unanswered, leaving them without official support or compensation.
Similar cases had been reported in Homa Bay County near Ruma National Park, where villages such as Ngoya had faced years of monkey invasions linked to habitat loss and climate pressure.
Studies from various regions indicated that primates were responsible for up to 96% of crop-raiding incidents, and farmers in Ratta said they are now experiencing similar patterns of extensive loss.
Farmers in Ratta are now appealing to the government to provide relief food, as families were struggling to cope with the ongoing destruction, as well as to act on the monkey menace.
