FAO’s fully funded appeal allowed for the treatment of nearly 2.3 million ha of desert locust-infested land in targeted countries, through ground and aerial operations between January 2020 and December 2021. These efforts averted 4.5 million tonnes of crop losses, saved 900 million litres of milk production, and secured food for 41.5 million people. The commercial value of the cereal and milk losses averted through the response is estimated at USD 1.77 billion.

The devastating impact of the upsurge on livelihoods was in turn mitigated through a combination of in-kind and/or cash support; over 305 000 households were supported by FAO and an additional 300 000 by non-governmental organizations, providing approximately 3 million people with the means to meet their immediate needs and to restore their productive capacity.

FAO's Desert Locust Information Service (DLIS) provided timely and accurate early warning and forecasts throughout the upsurge. Collaboration with academic, research and private sector partners resulted in 16 new innovations that have been integrated into DLIS and national locust programmes to further improve monitoring and early warning, including important tools such as the eLocust3 application – used to record field observations and transmit them in real time via satellite to inform the response.

Finally, important developments were made in the effort to safeguard environmental and human health – particularly against the impact of pesticides – at the intersection between desert locust response and the One Health approach. Biopesticides and insect growth regulators were used when possible as environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional pesticides that can help to contribute towards the sustainability of the ecosystem. By carefully controlling the entire pesticide lifecycle during control operations, providing guidance in the form of an Environment, Health and Safety Standards Manual for the region and designing a Locust Pesticide Management System, FAO helped to reduce the risks associated with pesticides in control campaigns, promote early response to outbreaks and upsurges and encourage cooperation for preventive control among locust-affected countries.

While we can now state that this historic upsurge has been defeated, challenges remain to maintain the gains made over the past two years and ensure countries can sustain the robust monitoring and control systems that have been put into place, improving the region’s collective ability to prevent future upsurges and plagues. FAO will continue to work diligently with high-risk countries to keep surveillance and response mechanisms intact to bolster our collective efforts against this ancient pest.