Desert Locust situation calms down in the Horn of Africa and Arabia

In the past week, the Desert Locust situation has improved in the Horn of Africa and in southern Arabia. In Ethiopia, no new swarms have been reported and only a few small immature swarms and swarmlets remain in parts of the central Rift Valley and in the northern highlands. Those in the northern highlands have dispersed and are difficult to treat. Consequently, there is a moderate risk that scattered adults and perhaps a few small groups of adults could move to the summer breeding areas in western Eritrea and central Sudan and lay eggs with the onset of the seasonal rains.

Only a few scattered immature adults were seen during surveys last week in the interior of Yemen, mainly north of Wadi Hadhramaut in Zamakh and Minwakh areas, and on the escarpment in northern Somalia. No locusts were seen during surveys carried out recently in Oman, Pakistan and India.

Therefore, it appears that the threat of swarm movement from Yemen and northern Somalia to the summer breeding areas along both sides of the Indo-Pakistan border has ceased. Nevertheless, regular surveys should be maintained in the key countries throughout the summer.

Elsewhere, the situation remains calm. A few locusts are present and breeding south of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and along the Nile River Valley in northern Sudan. Control operations were carried out in southeast Iran against hoppers.

In the coming weeks, small-scale breeding will commence with the onset of the seasonal rains in the northern Sahel of West Africa and Sudan as well as along the Indo-Pakistan border. Locust numbers are likely to remain low and no significant developments are expected.