Egypt

Egypt
Egypt is within:
Region:	Africa
Subregion:	Northern Africa

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Egypt is located in the northeastern part of Africa. It is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world. Egypt shares borders with the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Gaza Strip, Israel, and the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. The majority of Egypt's land is desert, with most agricultural areas concentrated along the Nile River and the Nile Delta. Rangelands are limited to a narrow strip along the Mediterranean coast, with a low capacity for grazing.

Egyptian agriculture is primarily characterized by smallholdings, with about half of the farms being smaller than 0.42 hectares. Almost all farming relies on irrigation. Since 1992, farmers have had the freedom to choose their crops, whereas before, the government dictated the crop patterns. Egypt faces moderate food insecurity, ranking 57th out of 125 countries. Key challenges include food affordability, quality, and safety, largely due to its dependence on international markets for more than half of staple food supplies.

Desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria)) are a significant agricultural pest in Egypt. The country has been an iconic historical example of desert locust plagues, especially given the mention of locusts as one of the ten plagues inflicted on Pharaoh’s Egypt in the Old Testament.

Ecology and distribution

Egypt contains key breeding zones for the desert locust, especially in its southern region near the Sudanese border. During the winter, locusts breed along the Red Sea coast, including areas like Shalateen, Abu Ramad, and Halaib. In the summer, breeding occurs around Lake Nasser and Sharq Al-Oweinat. The estimated potential breeding area is approximately 49,000 km² in the winter and 5,000 km² in the summer.

Management and research

Outbreaks have caused significant agricultural damage throughout the history of human agriculture. Locust control in Egypt is overseen by the General Department for Locusts and Agro-Aviation Affairs (GDLAAA) within the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, based in Cairo. A General Director leads the department, which operates 13 main bases and 52 sub-bases, all equipped with vehicles and control materials. The GDLAAA employs 32 senior officers and around 1,100 technicians. Egypt is also part of the FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region (CRC).

|Click here to view a diagram of the structure of the General Department for Locusts Control and Agricultural Aviation Affairs in Egypt.

Species of locust and grasshoppers in Egypt represented in HopperWiki

• Desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria)

Organizations

Organization name	Acronym	Website	Type	Focus	Focus keywords	Geographic purview
Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region	CRC	View	Intergovernmental Organization	Management, Governance, Education, Information Hub	Training, Regional cooperation, Monitoring, Control, Forecasting, Natural sciences
FAO Desert Locust Control Committee	DLCC	View	Intergovernmental Organization	Development, Management, Governance	Agricultural development, Community development, Control, International development, Regional cooperation, Sustainable development, Training, Natural sciences
FAO Regional Office for the Near East	FAO RNE	View	Intergovernmental Organization	Governance, Management	Control, Forecasting, Survey
Near East Plant Protection Organization	NEPPO	View	Other	Information Hub, Governance, Management	Monitoring, Control

Resources

Name	Species purview	Year published	Resource link	Descriptive keyword	Language	Geographic purview	Author
Atlas of desert locust breeding habitats	Desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria)	1997	View	Breeding zones, Habitat, Map, Distribution, Biology, Ecology, Behavior, Phase polyphenism	English		Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, George Basil Popov, G.B. Popov
Desert locust field handbook	Desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria)	2020	View	Species identification, Management	English		Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International
Desert locust technical series	Desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria)			History, Management	English, French, Arabic		Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Projects

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