Abstract: The desert locust remains a major threat to global food security. Control operations are a
crucial tool to manage crisis; this research investigated the nature of control operations conducted
between 2019–2021. Historical data on desert locust and control operations were obtained from the
survey reports at the FAO Locust Hub and analysed with respect to survey reports, land cover types,
cropland/rangeland extent and crop productivity data. We found that 16.1% of the grid cells with
locust presence and 14.9% of the grid cells with control operations had a proportion of rangeland
higher than 0.75; while 13.3% of the grid cells with locust presence and 13.2% of the grid cells with
control operations had a proportion of croplands higher than 0.75, highlighting that locust presence
and control operations were reported in both rangeland and cropland. Control operations continue to
be used both to reduce overall locust numbers and to protect crops. Furthermore, through identifying
which crops were most at risk, our analyses indicate that wheat production was under the highest
strain during periods of increased locust infestations.