Project overview:

The Moroccan Locust (DMA), the Italian Locust (CIT) and the Migratory Locust (LMI) periodically plague central Asian countries, causing severe damage to rangelands and crops during outbreaks and upsurges. This threat jeopardizes the food security and livelihood of rural populations. In October 2011, FAO launched the multi-funded and interregional “Programme to Improve National and Regional Locust Management in Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA)” in response to the requests of multiple countries. The programme was designed to benefit ten countries: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. 

The project “Towards Better National and Regional Locust Management in CCA”, was approved in March 2012 under the FAO-Turkey Partnership Programme (FTPP) and involves six participating countries, namely Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The project was carried out within the larger framework of the CCA locust management programme.

The overall objective of the project was to contribute to the safeguarding of food security and the livelihood of rural populations in CCA by preventing, controlling and limiting the threats posed by locusts to crops and rangelands. With this in mind, the outcome of the project represented an improvement in both national capacities and the coordination of the regional locust management programme for the management of locusts and the threats they pose to the region.

Under the project:

• The project provided grants for PhD (three-year) and MS (two-year) studies on locust problems pertinent to CCA. 
• Six technical training sessions (including five sessions on locust monitoring and information management) for a total of 76 locust experts were carried out in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.
• A Locust Programme Officer was appointed to ensure the overall implementation and coordination of the broader CCA locust management programme.