South Eastern Kenya University board of management lead by the vice- chancellor Prof. Eng. Douglas Shitanda receives a donation of two microscopes from a Professor of entomology and plant biology, University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) in the United States of America (USA), Prof Simon Zebelo in collaboration with Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT)

The project is aimed at dealing with current and emerging threats to mango fruit production by small scale farmers and good manufacturing practices. Therefore the microscopes are meant to help the school of agriculture in research in mango fruit flies and other pests in mango farming.

It also aims at addressing pre- and post-harvest problems that small-scale mango (Mangifera indica L.) farmers face in Kitui County. Both of these activities will include pest/disease surveillance, value addition and training of farmers to use new technologies for monitoring of emerging threats to crops in the County of Kitui.

The tools developed have been disseminated to farmers in neighboring sub-counties with similar agro-ecological conditions. The broad goal of this project is to foster collaborative efforts between Kitui County Government (Ministry of Agriculture), Mango Production Cooperative Societies, ICIPE, UMES JKUAT and SEKU among other international and Kenyan partner institutions to strengthen global Food Security.