(Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases – Desert Locust component). The Locust and Other Migratory Pests Group at FAO HQ

FAO has a global mandate to provide developmentemergency assistance on locusts to its 176 member nations, to provide fora for meetings on locusts and to collect, analyse, fore-cast and disseminate information on locusts. FAO is recognised as having a comparative advantage over other bodies in this work because success in combating locusts depends on international collaboration, which FAO can most easily foster. Up to now, the focus of attention has been the Desert Locust because it is perceived as posing the greatest threat to the greatest number of countries, but FAO has also recently provided assistance with problems caused by five other species of locust, and also by armyworm and by quelea. For this group of migratory pests, FAO’s priorities are to provide a satisfactory service to member countries and to limit the effect of the pests on food security. In respect of the Desert Locust, these priorities are expressed through a Special Programme EMPRE