Desert locust outbreaks and climate change: lessons learnt from fifteen years of control operations (2011–2025)

https://openknowledge.fao.org/items/2069b798-2fbd-4f2d-abd3-4956a9050ac9 The desert locust remains one of the most serious transboundary threats to agriculture, food security and rural livelihoods across North Africa, the Near East, the Horn of Africa and Southwest Asia. Although major upsurges are often perceived as sudden natural disasters, evidence from 2011–2025 shows that they usually result from a combination of ecological, climatic, institutional and geopolitical factors.This information sheet condenses key findings from a preliminary CRC analytical review of control operations, outbreak patterns and climate-related drivers across the desert locust invasion area. It aims to translate the lessons of recent outbreaks, particularly the 2019–2021 upsurge, into practical messages for Member States.