WARP's African Emergency Locust and Grasshopper Advisor, Harry Bottenberg, traveled to Mali, Mauritania, and Senegal to assess the situation in late July. He concluded that the problem is serious with swarms of adult locusts of varying sizes and larval bands observed in all three countries. He heard reports of a 30 kilometer-long swarm seen in Mauritania. This season's excellent crops and pasture are under threat. The larval bands in Senegal and Mali will give rise to large swarms of adult locusts by early September when cereal crops start to mature and when there is a greater risk to crop loss.

Locusts covering grass near Aouroun, Mali

While under-equipped and understaffed, Bottenberg was impressed by the fighting spirit and enthusiasm of the field staff. There appears to be a great deal of cooperation and support for the campaign within the Ministries of Agriculture of the afflicted countries and among countries in the region as well, as shown by the Algiers July 27 meeting. Therefore, despite the many inadequacies and the indisputable need for reinforcements, the countries are much better prepared for this outbreak than for previous ones, notably the big plague of 1986-89.

DPV spraying locusts near Matam , Senegal

Bottenberg concluded that the affected countries urgently needed to get a better handle on the damage that the swarms will cause in the field within the next few months. He recommended that the goal of such an assessment needs to be clearly defined in terms of what use would be made of the results and how they would guide control strategies. WARP also strongly recommends that countries coordinate their requests for donor funding through the FAO.