Summary
The desert locust (SGR) situation remained relatively calm in January. Only limited breeding occurred in southwest Libya where groups of gregarious hoppers were detected and in southeast Algeria where scattered adults were controlled in 85 ha. Smallscale breeding was in progress in the Air Mountains and on the western side of the Ténéré Desert in Niger and low numbers of hoppers and adults are currently present. Locust numbers declined over most of the western region due to unfavorable conditions. Scattered adults were reported in the Tokar Delta and southern plains near Aqiq and Aiterba in Sudan and near Qunfidah in Saudi Arabia, but in general, the numbers remained unusually low in the winter breeding areas along both sides of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden due to poor rains and dry conditions. A few adults were reported in spring breeding areas in west coast of Pakistan (DDLC/Libya, DLCO-EA, DPPQS/India, FAO-DLIS, PPD/Ethiopia, PPD/NSD).
