Technical workshop on locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia

The 13th annual technical workshop on locust management is being held under the framework of the “FAO’s programme to improve national and regional locust management in Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA)”. The workshop is organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in close cooperation with the Ministry of the Agriculture of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, with the financial support of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

It gathers delegates from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as FAO experts and observers. It is the third time that Kyrgyzstan hosts such an important workshop since the start of the Programme in 2011.

The objectives of the event are to strengthen regional cooperation as well as national capacities of the concerned countries, by allowing information and experience sharing on locust management. More specifically, the workshop will allow discussion of the lessons learnt from the 2023 national anti-locust campaign and preparation of the next one, the implementation of the Programme in 2023 and workplan for 2024, the latest developments regarding the Geographic Information System (GIS) entitled “Caucasus and Central Asia Locust Management System” (CCALM), and risk reduction associated with locust control operations. A specific session will be devoted to the promotion and use of biopesticides against locusts. The ultimate goal is to contribute to safeguarding the rural population's food security and livelihoods.