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Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Western Region

Gestion de l'information

Locust information management

Each national locust control unit of CLCPRO member countries has a locust information management unit to which at least one person responsible for locust information management is assigned.  

The role of the person responsible for locust information management, also called the "Locust Information Officer", is to:  

  • Analyse all data sent in from the field;  
  • Provide the Head of Unit with information, the prevailing locust situation as well as forecasts and technical advice on the resources needed to manage it;  
  • The logical approach to analysing and managing information at national level to enable its use for effective planning and decision-making is summarised in the following steps: 

 

Step 1: Locust, ecological and meteorological data resulting from survey and control operations conducted in the country, from the National Meteorological Service and from other countries and organizations, including the FAO, must be centralized at the headquarters of the national locust control unit, where the Locust Information Officer is based. The data collected is needed to plan survey and control operations. As soon as it is received, each piece of information must be recorded so that it can be easily located if needed. 

Step 2: The data will have to be corrected and plotted on a map, either by hand or using information management software. Each report must be analyzed to understand the significance of the survey and control results, and to take immediate action. 

Step 3: Analyses are used to assess the current situation and forecast future developments. 

Step 4: The situation assessment and forecasts, presented in the form of maps and tables, should be discussed with the Head of the national locust unit on a daily or weekly basis (depending on the situation) to plan survey and control operations. 

Step 5: The results of surveys and control operations, together with a brief interpretation, should always be sent to the Desert Locust Information Service (DLIS) at FAO headquarters in Rome, no later than five days after the end of each survey. 

Step 6: All initial data, analyses, summaries, and reports should be appropriately archived for easy future retrieval and case study.