Disaster Response
The only KCAA-approved locust response operator
Desert Locust Disaster Response
Context
The desert-locust disaster that swept East Africa, threatening crops and food security across the region.
Challenge
Managing a fast-moving, wide-area infestation that conventional ground and aerial methods struggled to contain.
Approach
Astral Aerial was the only drone operator approved by the KCAA and relevant authorities to fly the response. Drone manoeuvrability enabled far more precise application than conventional aerial spraying, including night deployment — when locusts roost and are most vulnerable, and when conventional aircraft can't safely operate.
Results
What it achieved.
A tried-and-tested, replicable disaster-response standard
A protocol scalable and applicable across different disaster types, not just locust control
From the field
Read the field reports
Field ReportDrones in Locust Control: Putting Theory Into ActionFour missions into Samburu and Baringo, testing whether drones could hold their own against the desert locust.EngineeringBuilding a ULV Spray Drone From ScratchNobody sold the drone we needed, so we built it in a Nairobi workshop with parts from Europe and a boom from a junkyard.Field ReportTesting ULV Spraying in the Real WorldAt Muguga farm we put the modified drone against live locusts, measured what changed, and halved our time per hectare.