Desert Locust Plagues: Controlling the Ancient Scourge

For thousands of years, humans have found themselves vulnerable to plagues of desert locusts. Some 50 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia have been ravaged, at one time or another, by huge, devouring swarms of locusts. With the consequent, often total, destruction of crops and grazing, widespread hunger and starvation ensued. Colin Everard’s book takes as its geographical focus the Horn of Africa, an area which throughout history has suffered catastrophically from locust plagues. Based on his own extensive experience in the region, Everard describes one of the greatest (albeit unsung) triumphs of the 20th century, namely, how the desert locust scourge has, at last, been virtually brought under control.

Colin Everard worked with Desert Locust Control in the Horn of Africa, as well as in Kenya, the then Tanganyika (now Tanzania), and in Uganda. As head of operations in the field for Desert Locust Control, he was responsible for the strategic mounting and directing of anti-locust campaigns to combat huge invasions of desert locust swarms during an extended plague period; these campaigns were aimed at protecting the agriculture and livestock grazing of the region.
Subsequent to his work with Desert Locust Control, Colin Everard worked in the International Civil Aviation Organization. He lives in Vienna. This is his fourth book.

Robert A. Cheke is Professor of Tropical Zoology at the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Greenwich. Before university, he qualified as a grade A bird ringer and worked as a field assistant at the British Trust for Ornithology. After graduating with a PhD in zoology at the University of Leeds, he held various posts in academia before becoming employed at the Centre for Overseas Pest Research (then part of the Ministry for Overseas Development). Robert's work has frequently taken him to sub-Saharan Africa, where he has been able to follow his passion for sunbirds. He is the co-author of The Birds of Togo (1996), has edited or co-edited six further books and published more than 500 scientific papers. Robert was awarded a DSc by the University of Greenwich for his extensive research work in 2021.