Bishkek – The 13th annual Technical Workshop on Locust Management is being held under the “FAO’s Programme to Improve National and Regional Locust Management in the Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA)”. The workshop is organized 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 has hosted such an important workshop, since the start of the Programme in 2011.

Postgraduate students from ten different countries learned about the latest locust control strategies and FAO's early warning systems for transboundary plant pests at a recent seminar at CIHEAM-IAMB. The seminar was also a chance to discuss the Aral Sea Catastrophe and whether it could be reversed.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) welcomes the Federal Government of Somalia to the Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region (CRC) as its 17^th member.

Somalia's geographical location, historical significance in locust control, and contributions to the Locust Central Region Commission make it a crucial player in combating locusts in the Horn of Africa. Its membership in the CRC is a strategic step that will help to improve locust control efforts in the region.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations (FAO) conducted a regional training on locust survey and reporting techniques for locust officers from breeding and invasion countries, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda.

The training of trainers targeted locust master trainers who will be able to transfer the skills and knowledge to their peers in their respective countries to conduct proper locust survey, monitoring and use proper reporting techniques.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is supporting the government of the Comoros to develop a national Action Plan to manage the banana Fusarium wilt (TR4) disease. The country confirmed the first case of banana Fusarium wilt (TR4) on Grande Comore Island early this year. 

In a ceremony held at the Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II (IAV) in Agadir (Morocco), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and IAV Hassan II sealed a partnership by signing an agreement to establish a master’s program in Acridology. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in the ongoing Desert Locust sustainable preventive control strategy in the Western and Central regions.

FAO and National Desert Locust Control Center in Morocco jointly organized a training session to deploy Locust Pesticides Management System (L-PMS) for Ethiopian plant protection personnel. The course, which runs 10-15 July 2023, is part of the larger project (GCP-INT-1032-USA) funded by USAID/BHA to reduce Desert Locust risks in the Central Region and the Horn of Africa. The project will be implemented in eight countries over the next four years, with the objective of safeguarding the food security and livelihoods of pastoral and rural populations.

 

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) organized a workshop on "The Preparedness of SFE Countries for the Threat of Banana Fusarium Wilt Tropical Race 4” in Nairobi, Kenya, between 12-16 June 2023. This activity is a part of the implementation of the global project OSRO/GLO/208/USA financed by the United States Agency for International Development’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (USAID BHA) and aims to build alliances between all relevant stakeholders to strengthen plant health emergency management capacities of FAO member countries. 

The FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Western Region (CLCPRO) organizes a workshop to develop the fifth regional training plan for the period 2023 – 2026 in Oran (Algeria), from 5 to 9 June 2023. This event brings together the Directors General of the national locust control units of the ten CLCPRO member countries, as well as the ‘training focal points’ of the front-line countries, namely Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Chad.