Eritrea

Eritrea
Eritrea is within:
Region:	Africa
Subregion:	Sub-Saharan Africa
Intermediate region:	Eastern Africa

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Eritrea is located in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Sudan to the west, Ethiopia to the south, and Djibouti to the southeast. It has an extensive coastline along the Red Sea to the northeast and east. Eritrea is well known as a desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) frontline country with key winter and summer breeding grounds The country experiences outbreaks of the desert locust almost every year and can also experience migration from other countries.

Extensive periods of war and drought have contributed to widespread poverty in Eritrea making food security a primary concern. Up to 80% of the population depends on farming. The farming system consists of rain-fed crop cultivation using traditional methods with minimal inputs in the central and southern highlands. It also includes irrigated agriculture in the western and eastern lowlands. Additionally, agro-pastoral and nomadic systems are found in the lowlands and escarpment zone, with agro-pastoralists raising cattle, sheep, and goats, while nomadic pastoralists typically keep camels.

Ecology

Eritrea is situated in the Sahelian rainfall zone and receives rain from the southwestern monsoons. The climate varies from hot and arid near the Red Sea to temperate and sub-humid in the eastern highlands.

The primary pest locust species in Eritrea is the desert locust and in recent years the Sahelian tree locust (Anacridium melanorhodon).

The desert locust has active winter breeding grounds in the Eastern Lowlands, which extend along the Red Sea coast up to the northern border with Sudan. Summer breeding areas shift to the Western Lowlands, specifically in the Gash-Barka basin. There is particularly high frequency along the Keren-Barentu-Tessenei road, likely due to main road access and therefore ease of reporting. The area features sandy and gravelly plains with scattered hills and mesas, partly cultivated and partly covered by xerophilous woodland, including Acacia spp., Salvadora persica, and Commiphora spp. The undergrowth includes grazing-friendly plants like aloe and hibiscus.

Outbreaks

Historical accounts of control operations for desert locust plagues go back to the 1960’s. Estimates in the 1990s suggest locust invasions cause around 3-5% annual damage. However, the head of the Ministry of Agriculture's planning division estimates overall pest-related losses average over 30%. Historically, there is a significant memory of a pre-Independence (before 1991) locust invasion that resulted in the complete loss of more than 46,000 MT of sorghum.

2019-2021

From 2019 to 2021, Eritrea experienced one of the most severe locust outbreaks in decades, significantly impacting the entire East African region. The outbreak began in 2019, driven by unusual climatic conditions that favored locust breeding. The situation escalated in 2020-2021, with heavy rains and cyclones creating ideal conditions for the formation of massive locust swarms. These swarms caused extensive damage to crops and pastures, threatening food security and livelihoods. In response, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, along with regional governments, implemented extensive control measures such as aerial and ground pesticide spraying, monitoring, and early warning systems to combat the infestation and mitigate its impacts. Read more here

1997-1998

In late 1997, desert locusts infested nearly the entire eastern coastal region after swarms moved in from Sudan, affecting 18,165 hectares which were subsequently treated. ​​However, there is no indication at the macro level that desert locusts had a significant impact on cereal production due to the link between good rainfall and higher crop production.

1995

In 1995, farmers reported desert locust swarms entering Eritrea from Sudan in July. A total of 26,317 hectares were treated with ground equipment and 25,580 hectares by aerial spraying. Although there was no pre-developed strategy, the country had pesticides and vehicles available. The reported 1995 campaign cost was $283,000, but could have reached around $1 million. The 1997/98 spraying cost was estimated at $185,650, but including infrastructure, pesticide stocks, and staff costs, the comprehensive cost was more like $345,135.

1992-1993

In 1992-93, following heavy rains, nomadic pastoralists reported locust hopper bands. A total of 11,301 hectares were treated with ground spraying and 18,300 hectares with aerial spraying by DLCO-EA. The country lacked a comprehensive strategy and faced a pesticide shortage during the outbreak.

Management and research

Eritrea is part of the FAO Desert Locust Control Organization for Eastern Africa (DLCO EA) and the FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region (CRC).

Locust control in the region involves close coordination between the Ministry of Agriculture, its regional offices, and farmers. Farmers or nomadic pastoralists report locust sightings to regional offices, which then conduct surveys with the help of local farmers. Ministry extension workers, trained in locust control, also train selected male farmers as scout volunteers to assist with monitoring and control efforts.

In recent years, Eritrea's Ministry of Agriculture and Land Resources has undergone major structural changes to decentralize agricultural policy implementation to the regional levels. Desert locust management is overseen by the Crop Protection Unit and the Locust Information Office, with coordination handled by the Director of the Technical Service Division. Due to limited resources, the Crop Protection Unit must carry out all desert locust survey and control activities in close collaboration with the regional agricultural departments. The Regulatory Services Department (RSD) is engaged in locust control by ensuring the safety of pesticide operators, offering guidance on correct pesticide application, and monitoring environmental impacts.

There is concern over the impact on non-target arthropods in ecologically sensitive desert locust breeding areas due to spraying as part of control campaigns.

Species gallery

• Highlighted species for Eritrea
• 
  Sahelian tree locust (Anacridium melanorhodon)
• 
  Desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria)

Organizations

Locusts and grasshoppers are typically managed through a national plant protection system led by a country’s plant protection organization, ministry of agriculture, or equivalent biosecurity authority. They are often supported by specialized pest control branches, natural resource agencies, and regional bodies when outbreaks cross borders. These agencies are usually the first point of contact for surveillance, reporting, permits, quarantine decisions, and control operations. If the country belongs to one of the FAO locust commissions, those bodies provide a regional framework for early warning, field surveillance, information sharing, and coordinated response, helping countries align monitoring, contingency planning, and control actions across borders.

Organization name	Acronym	Website	Type	Focus	Geographic purview
Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region	CRC	View	Intergovernmental Organization	Management, Governance, Education, Information Hub	Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Somalia
Desert Locust Control Organization for Eastern Africa	DLCO EA	View	Intergovernmental Organization	Education, Governance, Management, Research	Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania
FAO Desert Locust Control Committee	DLCC	View	Intergovernmental Organization	Development, Management, Governance	Afghanistan, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Netherlands, Niger, Oman, Pakistan, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Spain, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, [[United Arab Em...
Ministry of Agriculture State of Eritrea		View	Government	Development	Eritrea

Resources

Name	Species purview	Year published	Resource link	Descriptive keyword	Language	Geographic purview	Author
2014 evaluation of field trials data on the efficacy and selectivity of insecticides on locusts and grasshoppers		2014	View	Pesticides, Management, Pesticide management, Chemical control, Information hub	English	Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Somalia	Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Atlas of desert locust breeding habitats		1997		Breeding zones, Habitat, Map, Distribution, Biology, Ecology, Behavior, Phase polyphenism	English	Ethiopia, Senegal, Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia, Algeria, Mauritania, Mali, Egypt, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates	Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, George Basil Popov, G.B. Popov
Behind the success of desert locust control		2022	View	Newsletter, Outbreaks, Management	English	Eritrea
Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region (CRC) ad hoc, emergency, other meetings		1971		Management, Survey, Biology, Monitoring, Toxicology, Physiology, Ecology, Forecasting, Locust commission meeting, Collection	English	Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Somalia	Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region (CRC) committee meetings		1971		Management, Survey, Biology, Monitoring, Toxicology, Physiology, Ecology, Forecasting, Locust commission meeting, Bundle	English	Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Somalia	Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region (CRC) survey reports		1971		Management, Survey, Biology, Monitoring, Toxicology, Physiology, Ecology, Forecasting, Locust commission meeting, Bundle	English	Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Somalia	Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region (CRC) training and workshops		1971		Management, Survey, Biology, Monitoring, Toxicology, Physiology, Ecology, Forecasting, Locust commission meeting, Collection	English	Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Somalia	Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Desert locust field handbook		2020	View	Species identification, Management	English	Israel, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Morocco, Algeria, Niger, Mauritania, Chad, Mali, Lebanon, Sudan, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Somalia, South Sudan, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Libya, Kenya, India, Oman, Bahrain, Djibouti, Yemen, Uganda, Egypt, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Palestine, Tanzania, Syria, Iran, Turkey	Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International
Desert locust invasion responding to a crisis within a crisis		2020	View	Presentation, Outbreaks, Emergency response	English	Yemen, Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda
Desert locust master training manual		2003	View	Management, Training manual	English	Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Somalia	Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Desert locust technical series				History, Management, Set	English, French, Arabic	Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen, Mauritania, Madagascar, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Senegal, South Africa, Russia, Australia, Niger, Mali	Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Desert locust upsurge progress report on the response in the Greater Horn of Africa and Yemen		2020	View	Locust outbreaks, Management, Report, Progress report	English	Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Somalia	Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Estimate the potential impact of DL resources control an outbreak campaign excel file worksheets				Chemical control, Report, Excel files, Series	English	Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Somalia	Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
FAO commission for controlling the desert locust in the central region fifty years fighting desert locust		2016	View	International development, Community development, Environmental assessment, Decision making	English	Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Somalia	Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
FAO-CRC Executive Secretary witnessed Eritrea’s commitment to control desert locust		2019	View	Agriculture, Early warning, Outbreaks	English	Eritrea	Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Field efficacy trials with the entomopathogen Metarhizium anisopliae var. acridum (Green Muscle) against the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) and monitoring of it's operational use		2007	View	Advice, Metarhizium acridum	English	Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Somalia	Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Greater Horn of Africa and Yemen Desert locust crisis appeal		2020	View	Appeal, Emergency appeal	English	Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, Yemen, Kenya, Uganda, Eritrea	Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Guide for identifying desert locust			View	Locusts, Biology, General locust education	English	Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Somalia	Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Guidelines for developing research proposals			View	Locusts, Research, Research proposal, Guide	English	Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Somalia	Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Locusts have caused problems for quite some time			View	Locusts, Biology, Chemical control, Mechanical control, Spraying, Data analysis	English	Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Somalia	Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Metarhizium anisopliae reference list of papers			View	Biological control, Infestations, Information hub	English	Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Somalia	Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Operational-scale field trial with Green Muscle		2005	View	Agriculture, Chemical control, Metarhizium acridum, Trial, Biocontrol, Management	English	Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Somalia	Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Highlighted media coverage

Name	Author	Language	Species purview	Substance	Resource link	Year published
Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region (CRC) promotional materials	Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations	English		Promotional material

Projects

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