Sahel
Regional Team: SWAN
Disaster Declared: 10/01/2004
Brief Description: During July and August of 2003, favorable climatic conditions resulted in increased locust breeding levels throughout Sahelian West Africa. The density of the swarms increased during October and November in Mauritania, Mali, and Niger. The locusts matured from July to October in Mali and Niger, and then moved to Northwest Africa for a second breeding cycle from December 2003 to March 2004. In June 2004, the first swarms of desert locusts moved from the spring breeding grounds in Morocco and Algeria to the Sahel. Through intensive control operations, the situation in Northwest Africa improved, but by late June 2004, the swarms that had moved southward laid eggs in Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, and Niger. These swarms were highly mobile and difficult to spray before maturation. By the end of FY 2004, the desert locusts had infested approximately 3.5 million hectares across the Sahel. This regional locust outbreak was the worst since 1987-1989. The FY 2004 locust emergency coincided with a second consecutive year of above average agricultural harvests in the Sahel, due to exceptional rains, which also encouraged locust breeding.
FY2005
FY2004
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