FAO-EMPRES, desert locust component - Report on fourth ad hoc emergency prevention consultation, Cairo, Egypt 9-11 September 2007
The Horn of Africa and the Near East has received unusually widespread and heavy rainfall mainly along the Red Sea coast and interior of Saudi Arabia and Yemen since January 2007. These rains led to the development of favourable ecological conditions to allow the Desert Locust to breed.
Despite national and international efforts in controlling the outbreak in Yemen, locust swarms formed and moved towards coastal areas along the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea where breeding normally occurs during the winter.
A three-day workshop was conducted under the auspices of the Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region (CRC) to discuss the possible developments and the outline of a mitigation strategy with the heads of the national Locust Control Units (LCU) from the countries at risk.