Contingency arrangements have been reviewed and contingency planning is being incorporated into national programmes. Research FAO sees as its main task in research the identification of research opportunities, the coordination of and contact between research programmes, and the seeking of funds for necessary research activities. FAO has directly executed Desert Locust research under trust fund arrangements. In addition to the work on remote-sensing, a major study has been under way on the Economics of Desert Locust Management. A preliminary analysis of this complex subject will be presented at a Workshop in September 1997.
Research is also under way on aspects of locust control through a project based in Mauritania.
Efforts are being made to find ways of reducing pesticide dosages. Over the past five years, a project based in Senegal has investigated the environmental side-effects of locust spraying. A new phase of the project is under review. Support has also been given to promoting environmentally-friendly mycopesticides for locust control. IFAD will provide extra-budgetary funds to facilitate coordination and the establishment of a forum function in Desert Locust research.