Desert Locust situation - November 2004: from Mauritania to Israel. The period between now and the end of February 2005 is crucial for a well coordinated desert locust control campaign to protect crops in the Maghreb and to reduce the risk of swarms reinvading the Sahelian countries next summer, according to FAO. In the following excerpts, FAO Locust Forecast Officer, Keith Cressman, presents this situation overview: