Western Africa

Western Africa
Western Africa is within:
Region:	Africa
Subregion:	Sub-Saharan Africa

Projects

Numerous research projects looking at how land-use practices influence the Senegalese grasshopper (Oedaleus senegalensis) have built on each other over the years, creating a wealth of knowledge on this system and opportunities for alternative management strategies. Learn more about research on the Senegalese grasshopper in West Africa

Bay Sa Waar Communities for Sustainable Agriculture group photo

Countries in this intermediate region (18)

Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo

Species gallery

• Highlighted species for Western Africa
• 
  Gastrimargus africanus
• 
  Notched shield grasshopper (Abisares viridipennis)
• 
  White-spotted grasshopper (Calephorus compressicornis)
• 
  Wide-winged dotted grasshopper (Brachycrotaphus tryxalicerus)
• 
  Red locust (Nomadacris septemfasciata)
• 
  Dictyophorus griseus
• 
  Tobacco cricket (Brachytrupes membranaceus)
• 
  African rice grasshopper (Hieroglyphus daganensis)
• 
  African stick grasshopper (Pyrgomorpha cognata)
• 
  Desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria)
• 
  Monte Gordo grasshopper (Eyprepocprifas insularis)
• 
  Kraussaria angulifera
• 
  Migratory locust (Locusta migratoria)
• 
  Acorypha glaucopsis
• 
  Oedaleus nigeriensis
• 
  Mediterranean splendid grasshopper (Heteracris littoralis)

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
Directorate of Plant Protection	DPV	View	Government	Management, Research, Education	Senegal
Éléphant Vert		View	Private Sector	Management	Ivory Coast, France, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Senegal
FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in Northwest Africa	CLCPANO	View	Intergovernmental Organization	Governance, Education, Management, Research	Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania
FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Western Region	CLCPRO	View	Intergovernmental Organization	Governance, Research, Management	Burkina Faso, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger
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...
Joint Anti-Locust and Anti-Aviarian Organization	OCLALAV			Management	Burkina Faso, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger
Le Centre National de Lutte Antiacridienne	CNLA	View	Government	Research, Management, Governance	Mauritania
National Desert Locust Control Center	CNLCP	View	Government	Research, Management, Development, Governance	Mali
Office de la Protection des Végétaux	OPV	View	Government	Education, Research, Development	Mali
Permanent Interstates Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel	CLISS	View	Intergovernmental Organization	Development, Regional Cooperation	Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Chad, Togo
Sahel Institute	INSAH	View	Intergovernmental Organization, University	Development, Governance, Research, Management, Information Hub	Benin, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal, Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad, Cape Verde
United Nations AGRHYMET Regional Center	AGRHYMET	View	Other	Development, Education	Niger

Resources

Name	Species purview	Year published	Resource link	Descriptive keyword	Language	Geographic purview	Author
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
Community management of pest grasshoppers and locusts in Senegal		2020		Management, Species identification, Agriculturist guide, Set	Wolof, French, English	Senegal	Global Locust Initiative, United States Agency for International Development, Directorate of Plant Protection
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
FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Western Region (CLCPRO) commission meeting reports				Meeting, Locust commission meeting, Bundle	French	Burkina Faso, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger	Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Western Region
FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Western Region (CLCPRO) national management plans				Meeting, Locust commission meeting, Bundle, Management, Work plan	French	Burkina Faso, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger	Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Western Region
FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Western Region (CLCPRO) Report of Joint Prospecting with the Use of Drones or Biopesticides in Desert Locust Surveillance				Meeting, Locust commission meeting, Set	French	Burkina Faso, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger	Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Western Region
FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Western Region (CLCPRO) workshops				Meeting, Locust commission meeting, Bundle	French	Burkina Faso, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger	Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Western Region
Liste globale des pesticides autorisés par le Comité Sahélien des Pesticides		2020	View	Pesticides, Policy	French	Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Chad, Togo	Permanent Interstates Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel
Locust identification in Niger		2022	View	Management, Species identification, Agriculturist guide, Set	French, Zarma, Hausa	Niger	Global Locust Initiative, United States Agency for International Development, Directorate of Plant Protection, United Nations AGRHYMET Regional Center, Le Centre National de Lutte Antiacridienne, National Network of Agriculture Chambers of Niger
Management of pest grasshoppers and locusts in Mali		2020		Management, Species identification, Agriculturist guide, Set	Wolof, French, Fulfuldé, Bambara, Songhaï	Senegal	Global Locust Initiative, United States Agency for International Development, Directorate of Plant Protection
Pest grasshoppers and locusts in Senegal		2020		Management, Species identification, Agriculturist guide, Set	Wolof, French, English	Senegal	Global Locust Initiative, United States Agency for International Development, Directorate of Plant Protection
The acridids of West Africa				Management, Species identification	English	Western Africa
USAID Bay Sa Waar Communities for Sustainable Agriculture project summary		2021		Summary, Set, Project, Project report	English, Spanish, French	Senegal	United States Agency for International Development, The French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development, Global Locust Initiative, Gaston Berger University, Directorate of Plant Protection, United Nations AGRHYMET Regional Center, Le Centre National de Lutte Antiacridienne, National Desert Locust Control Center, National Network of Agriculture Chambers of Niger, Office de la Protection des Végétaux, The International Committee of the Red Cross, Mira Word Ries

Highlighted media coverage

Name	Author	Language	Species purview	Substance	Resource link	Year published
Teaming up to defend against locusts		English		News article		2020

Projects

Name	Acronym	Image	Status	Project leads	Related organization
NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH	CNH		Completed	Arianne Cease, Jon Harrison, Brian Robinson, Mira Word Ries, Balanding Manneh, Ruth Farington, Marion Le Gall, Jennifer Learned	Australian Plague Locust Commission, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Inner Mongolia Agriculture University, New South Wales Local Land Services, Directorate of Plant Protection, Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Sydney, National Science Foundation
USAID Bay Sa Waar Communities for Sustainable Agriculture	USAID		Completed	Clara Therville, Alana Burnham, Marion Le Gall, Mira Word Ries, Alioune Beye, Lucile Marescot, Arianne Cease, Cyril Piou, Mamour Touré	Directorate of Plant Protection, Gaston Berger University, Global Locust Initiative, Arizona State University, United States Agency for International Development