REGIONALWORKSHOPONDESERTLOCUSTINFORMATIONMANAGEMENTINTHEWESTERNREGION

FAOCOMMISSIONFORCONTROLLINGTHEDESERTLOCUSTINTHEWESTERNREGION(CLCPRO)

No.9

8–11April2019Tunis,Tunisia

2019

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©FAO,2019

FAOCOMMISSIONFORCONTROLLINGTHEDESERTLOCUSTINTHEWESTERNREGION(CLCPRO)

REGIONALWORKSHOPONDESERTLOCUSTMANAGEMENT

INTHEWESTERNREGION

8–11April2019Tunis,Tunisia

FOODANDAGRICULTUREORGANIZATIONOFTHEUNITEDNATIONS

Rome,2019

TableofContents

1. Introduc+on 2.........................................................................................................................

2. Programme 2..........................................................................................................................

2.1DesertLocustbulle+ns 3................................................................................................

2.2MacBookProandMacOS 3.............................................................................................

2.3RAMSESv4(Rv4.1) 4........................................................................................................

2.4eLocust3D 5....................................................................................................................

2.5eLocust3 5.......................................................................................................................

3. Conclusion 6...........................................................................................................................

4. Acknowledgements 6.............................................................................................................

Annex1.Workshoppar+cipants 8...............................................................................................

Annex2.Workshopprogramme 9................................................................................................

Annex3.Es+ma+ngDesertLocustbreeding 10...........................................................................

Annex4.Pre-andpost-evalua+ons 11.........................................................................................

RegionalWorkshoponDesertLocustmanagementintheWesternRegion

8–11April2019(Tunis,Tunisia)

1. IntroducRon

TheFAOCommissionforControllingtheDesertLocustintheWesternRegion(CLCPRO)sponsoredaregionalworkshopforDesertLocustInforma+onOfficers(DLIOs)intheWesternRegion.TheCLCPROsecretariatorganizedtheworkshopinTunis,Tunisiaon8–11April2019.TheFAOSeniorLocustForecas+ngOfficer,KeithCressman,andtheCLCPROProgrammeOfficer,HichemDridi,conductedtheworkshopinEnglishandFrench,respec+vely.

DLIOsagendedtheworkshopfromninecountriesintheWesternRegion.AtechnicalofficerfromtheAGRHYMETRegionalCentrealsopar+cipated(Annex1).TheLibyanDLIOcouldnotagend.

Thisyear’sworkshopwastheninthannualDLIOregionalworkshopsince2007.

2. Programme

In2018,thethreeDesertLocustregionalcommissions–theFAOCommissionforControllingtheDesertLocustintheWesternRegion(CLCPRO),intheCentralRegion(CRC)andinSouth-WestAsia(SWAC)–decidedtostandardiseontheMacplajormforna+onalDesertLocustInforma+onOfficers(DLIOs)inthefrontlinecountriesinordertoimprovetheglobalDesertLocustrepor+ngearlywarningsystem .DLIOsarenowusingMacBookProlaptopswiththe1

latestMacOS(10.14.4,Mojave)formanagingeLocust3data,opera+ngtheRAMSES(Rv4.1)geographicinforma+onsystem,preparinglocustbulle+nsanddata,andcrea+ngeLocus3DpackagesfortheeLocust3tablet .ThestandardMacapplica+ons(Pages,Numbersand2

Keynote)areusedforreports,data,mapsandpresenta+ons,respec+velyinlieuofthePCMicrosolequivalentsofWord,ExcelandPowerpoint.Applehardwareandsolwareofferincreasedstability,security,lessviruses,begerperformance,andamoreenjoyablecompu+ngexperience.Furthermore,lesssupportisrequiredfromDLISandthecommissionsthanforPCsbecausemul+plebrandsofcomputersandversionsofopera+ngsystemswiththeirassociatednuancesandbugscanbeavoided.Inthepast,afulldayoftheannualDLIOworkshopwasdevotedtofixingPCproblems.Now,lessthanonehourisrequiredfortheMacs.

TrainingontheuseoftheMacBookProlaptops,MacOSandstandardapplica+onswasprovidedattheDLIOworkshopslastyearineachregion.CLCPROgavespecifictrainingtotheDLIOfromMoroccowhocouldnotagendlastyear’sworkshop.

AsallDLIOshavebecomesufficientlyproficientintheuseoftheMacBookPro,thefocusofthisyear’sfour-dayworkshopwasondataanalysis(twodays);reviewofMacOSandthe

CLCPRO:Algeria,Chad,Libya,Mali,Mauritania,Morocco,Niger;CRC:Egypt,Eritrea,Ethiopia,Oman,Saudi1

Arabia,Sudan,Yemen;SWAC:India,Iran,Pakistan;DLCO-EA13-inch2017,2.3GHzi5128/16GB.MacOs10.14.42

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standardapplica+ons,improvementstoDesertLocustbulle+ns(oneday);preparingeLocust3DpackagesforeLocust3andmiscellaneousitems(oneday)(Annex2).

Eachpar+cipantcompletedapre-andpost-evalua+oninordertomeasureprogressachievedintheworkshop(Annex4).

2.1DesertLocustbulleRns

ItwasnotedthatallcountriesintheWesternRegioncon+nuetomaintainahighstandardofrepor+ngthatisthebasisfortheglobalDesertLocustearlywarningsystem.Nevertheless,thereisalwaysroomforimprovementstoensurehighqualityand+melyinforma+ononaregularbasis.Ratherthanpresen+ngthestatusofrepor+ngbylocust-affectedcountriesthroughthetradi+onalevalua+onofquality,+melinessandfrequencyofreports,thepar+cipantspeer-reviewedabulle+nfromeachcountryandprovidedsugges+onsforimprovements.Thiswassupplementedbyaddi+onalrecommenda+onsfromthetrainers.

Similartolastyear’sworkshop,themainareaforimprovementinallcountriescon+nuestobetheinclusionofcap+onsformapsthatindicatethe+tleandabriefexplana+onorinterpreta+onofthemap.WhileDLIOsarelikelytounderstandthemap,mostreadersmaynotbeabletodosoeasilyorsensibly.Hence,awell-wrigenconcisecap+ondescribingthemapwouldhelptoprovidemoreunderstanding.Itisalsoextremelyimportanttoincludesatellite-derivedrainfallmapswithsurveyresultsofsoilmoisture,greennessmapswithsurveyresultsofvegeta+on,andlocustsitua+onmaps.Itisnotnecessarytoincludesuchmapsintheabsenceofrainfall,greenvegeta+onorlocustsurveys.Ifsurveyswerenotconductedandnolocustswerereported,thisshouldbeclearlywrigeninthebulle+ntoavoidanyunnecessaryconfusionorexpecta+ons.AbriefsummaryoftheRv4.1datashouldbeincludedwhensendingthedatafiletoDLIS.Thedataandthecontentsofreportsandbulle+nsshouldalwaysmatch.

Itisimportanttopresentananalysisofthesitua+on,notjustasummaryoflocustpresence.Theanalysisshouldlinktheweatherandecologicalcondi+onstothelocustsitua+on,includingresultsofthebreedinges+mates.Fromthis,asensibleandmeaningfulforecastcanbeprepared.Furtherinstruc+onandexplana+ononthistopicwasprovidedatthisyear’sworkshop.

2.2MacBookProandMacOS

Thepar+cipantsreviewedthestandardapplica+ons(Pages,Numbers,Keynote,Safari,Preview,Photos,Mail)andu+li+es(Calendar,Contacts,Reminders,Notes,Search,Siri,Dic+onary)thatcomefreewitheveryMaccomputeraswellasthemanygesturesoftheTrackPad.AbouthalfoftheDLIOshadnotupdatedtheMacOSfrom10.13(HighSierra)to10.14(Mojave)becauseofslowandunreliableInternetconnec+onintheircountry.ThiswasdoneattheworkshopandallMacBookProswerecheckedtoensurethatthelatestversionofthestandardapplica+onsaswellasSophosan+-viruswereinstalledandfunc+oningcorrectly.ItwasnotedthatafewlaptopswereimproperlyconfiguredtouseiCloudforstoringtheDocumentsfolder,whichresultedinexhaus+ngthe5GBstoragecloudlimit.Thiswasreconfiguredtousethelaptopharddisk.

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2.3RAMSESv4(Rv4.1)

Rv4.1iscurrentlyusedin18frontlinecountriesoftheDesertLocustrecessionareawheresurveyandcontrolopera+onsarecarriedoutanddataarecollectedthatneedtobemanagedandanalysedonaregularbasis .Theapplica+onmayeventuallybeestablishedin3

othercountriessuchasSenegal,SomaliaandTunisia,dependingonneedsandcapaci+es.RAMSESv4,becameopera+onalon1January2015,aleritwasextensivelyredesignedasopen-sourcesolwareandcontainingasingleunifieddatabase.ItwasupdatedasRv4.1inMay2016.

Intensivetrainingwasprovidedtotheworkshoppar+cipantsonhowtousethebreedingquerytoes+matethedatesoflaying,hatchingandfledgingofcopula+ngadults,hoppersandfledglings.Acolour-codedcalendarintheNumbersappwasintroducedasameansofdisplayingtheresultsinagraphicalmannertomakeiteasierforDLIOstounderstandtheoverallbreedingperiodandtodetermineifmorethanonegenera+onofbreedingoccurredduringtheseason(Annex3).Thepar+cipantswereshowntwoexamples,winterbreedinginSudanstar+ngwithNovember2018andsummerbreedinginNigerstar+ngfromAugust2018.

Es+ma+ngbreedingisfundamentaltotheanalysisofanylocustsitua+on.Fromsuches+mates,the+mingofrainfallandfavourableecologicalcondi+onscanbedeterminedfromremotesensingandsurveyresultstobegerunderstandtheevolu+onoflocustdevelopment.

Thepar+cipantsweretaughttheessen+alcomponentsandmethodsofsummaryandanalysis,emphasisingthedevelopmentofbreedinges+matesandthesystema+corganiza+onanduseofmonthlylayersofrainfall,vegeta+on,soilmoisture,locustbehaviourandlocusttype.Itisimportanttorememberthatthelocustsitua+oncanbeconsideredonelong,uninterruptedstoryinwhicheachmonthisanewchapterbutinthesamebook.Therefore,itisnecessarytorefertopreviousmonthsandtomakesuretogobackfarenoughin+metocommencewiththeveryfirstseasonalrains.Giventheeffectsofclimatechange,suchrainsmayoccuratunusual+mes,e.g.thesummerandautumnrainsin2018thatledtoanoutbreakinwinterbreedingareasalongbothsidesoftheRedSeaduringwhichwinterrainfallwasnearlyabsent.

Thepar+cipantsweredividedintothreegroupsandspentafulldayprac+cingtheanalysisoftheDesertLocustoutbreakinEritrea .TheanalysisstartedwithJanuary2019andworked4

backwardstotheini+alrainsthatfellduringtheprevioussummer,andworkedforwardstoincludeaforecastforMarchandApril2019.SuchacasestudyexercisefortheWesternRegioncouldnotbeundertakenduetoacalmlocustsitua+oninthepastfewyearsandalackofhopperbands,swarmsandcontroldata.Eachgrouppreparedmapsandshowedtheirresultsduringaten-minutepresenta+on.Allpar+cipantsandtrainersvotedforthebestanalysisusingtheMen+onlineinterac+vetool .5

Algeria,Chad,Djibou+,Egypt,Eritrea,Ethiopia,India,Iran,Libya,Mali,Mauritania,Morocco,Niger,Oman,3

Pakistan,SaudiArabia,Sudan,Yemen,andDLCO-EAMali-Algeria-Tunisia;Mauritania-Niger-Senegal;Chad-Morocco-BurkinaFaso(votedasbestanalysis)4

men+.comandmen+meter.com5

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TheDLIOsweregivenanoverviewoftheInter-TropicalConvergenceZone(ITCZ)anditsrela+ontorainfallduringthesummerintheSahelofWestAfrica.TheyweretaughthowtodownloadITCZdata,plotitinRv4.1andconvertthepointstolinesusingtheSextenteplugin .Par+cipantsprac+ceddownloadingadecadalITCZdatafile,displayingitinRv4.1and6

comparingittothelong-termmeanposi+on.ItisimportanttoincludeITCZanalysisinthemonthlybulle+nsofSenegal,Mauritania,Mali,NigerandChadduringthesummer.DLIShaspreparedavideothatshowstheaboveinforma+on .ItwillbeupdatedsoonfortheMacbut7

theprocedureremainsthesame.

Thepar+cipantswerealsoshownhowtoopenaddi+onalshapefilesandCSVfilesinRv4.1.Thelagerisusefultodisplaycustomtownsinacountry.Inthiscase,theDLIOshouldprepareafileintheNumbersappthathasthreecolumnsofdata:townname,la+tudeandlongitude(indecimalformat,DD.DDDD,thatcanbedeterminebyusingGoogleEarth).ThefileshouldbeexportedasCSVformat.TheCSVplugininRv4.1isusedtoopentheCSVfileandindicatethedelimita+on(commaorsemi-colon)andthecorrectcolumnsforlongitude(X)andla+tude(Y)sothatthetownsareplogedcorrectly.DLIOsprac+cedbypreparingafilewithafewcustomtownnamesanddisplayingitinRv4.1.

2.4eLocust3D

TheDLIOswereremindedoftheusefulnessoftheeLocust3Dapponthetablettohelpguidesurveyteamstoareasofrecentrainfallandvegeta+onbasedonthelatestavailableimageryfromIRI .Inorderforthisfunc+onalitytobeavailableforsurveyteams,theDLIOmustuse8

thedesktopversionofeLocust3DontheMacBookProtoprepareapackagethatistransferredtotheeLocust3tablet.Thepar+cipantswereinstructedhowtomakeabaselinepackageofbackgroundmapsandprac+cedthisduringtheworkshopbydefiningarela+velysmallregionofabout3x3squaredegrees,installingtherelevantLandsat,TPC,eleva+onandboundaryfilesfromtheMacBookProharddisk,andsavingthistoaspecificregionfolderinRAMSES\eLocust3Ddesktop.Priortouseinthefield,thebaselinepackageshouldbeupdatedwiththelatestdecadalrainfallandgreennessmaps.Ifteamsremaininthefieldforseveralweeksorlonger,asupervisorteamcouldbringthelatestpackageonamicro-SDcardtoexchangewiththepreviousone.DLIOswereencouragedtomakethebaselinepackageforeachregionintheircountryinadvance.

2.5eLocust3

CountrieswereremindedthateverysurveyandcontrolteamshoulduseeLocust3torecordtheirobserva+onsinthefieldandtransmittheminreal-+meviasatellitetotheirNa+onalLocustCentre.Duringsurveyandcontrolopera+ons,DLIOsshoulduseGeoFlextomonitorfieldac+vi+esonadailybasis .9

NovacomrecentlyupdatedeLocust3v2.6solwaretofixasmallbugtoensurethatreportswithcontroldataaresavedtothetablet.Thisupdatewillbeavailablesoontoallcountries.Somecountriesreportedtheneedforaddi+onalantennacablesandchargerstoreplace

hgps://sites.google.com/site/rv4elocust3updates/ramsesv4/reinstall(Plugins_installer)6

hgps://youtu.be/hM7X-877KRs7

hgps://youtu.be/XEV3a1uXfdk8

hgps://web-humanav.novacom-services.com/novacom-gwt-generic/index.jsp9

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thosethathavebrokenorbeenlost.CLCPROshouldmaintainasmallstockoftheseitemsinordertomeetsuchneedsbycountries.DLIOswereremindedtocheckthebageriesofstoredeLocust3tabletseverymonthtoensurethatthebagerylevelremainsatabout40%charge.Incasetheinternalclockbagerylosesitscharge,thetabletshouldbepluggedinandchargedforthreedays(72hours)non-stopwithoutinterrup+on.Thetabletshouldbelelonbutthescreencanbeturnedoffduringthisperiod.Itmaybenecessarytorepeatthisseveral+mesbeforetheclockbageryisfullychargedandmaintainsitscharge.

3. Conclusion

Allpar+cipantsbenefitedfromtheworkshopasindicatedintheresultsofthepre-andpost-evalua+ons(Annex4).Non-frontlinecountries(BurkinaFaso,Senegal,Tunisia)improvedthemost,whichistobeexpectedaspar+cipantsfromthesecountrieswerelessfamiliarwiththeearlywarningtools(eLocust3,eLocust3D,Rv4.1)atthebeginningoftheworkshopcomparedtofrontlinecountriesthatregularlyusesuchtools.Nevertheless,DLIOsfromeachfrontlinecountryalsoimprovedtheirknowledgeandskills.

Thisworkshopcon+nuestorepresentanimportantmechanismofprovidingupdatedandrefreshertrainingonaregularbasistoDLIOsontheearlywarningtoolsdevelopedbyDLISaswellastheMacOSinordertoensurethesmoothopera+ngoftheglobalrepor+ngandearlywarningsystem,whichisthebasisforpreven+vecontrol.Thepar+cipantsreaffirmedtheimportanceofandtheneedtocon+nuetheseworkshopsonanannualbasis.

Thepar+cipantsexpressedtheirdesirethatRv4.1con+nuestobeupdatedsothatitcanprovidethenecessaryfunc+onalityforsummarisingandanalysingdata,andtosimplifytasks.However,DLIOsshouldimprovetheirknowledgeandusethefullfunc+onsofRv4.1.DLISandtheCommissionsshouldcon+nuetoberesponsibleforprovidingthenecessarytrainingtoDLIOsonRv4.1func+onalityandnewtechnologieswhileusersshouldmakefulluseofthecustomapplica+onfordatamanagementandanalysis.

AgainitwasnotedduringtheworkshoptheimportanceofafastandreliableInternetconnec+onintheNa+onalLocustCentres.Thisiscri+calbecauseanincreasingpor+onofaDLIO’sworkreliesonsuchconnec+vity,forexample,receiptofeLocust3datafromthefield,monitoringsurveyandcontrolac+vi+esinthefield,accesstoremotesensingimageryofrainfallandgreenvegeta+oninordertopriori+sesurveys,guideteamsandanalysesitua+ons,exchangingdatawithDLIS,CLCPROandothercountries,and+melyrepor+ng.

ForthosecountriesthathavetwoDLIOs,suchasMauritania,itwouldbeusefulifanaddi+onalMaccouldbeprovided,perhapsadesktopiMac,sothateachDLIOhasaMac.

4. Acknowledgements

Thepar+cipantsexpressedtheirapprecia+ontotheCLCPROforthegoodarrangementsandcoordina+onoftheworkshop’slogis+csthatcontributedgreatlytoitssuccess.ThewarmwelcomeoftheHostGovernmentandthesupportprovidedwasindica+veofthesincerecommitmentofthecountrytothelocustprogramme.Lastly,thepar+cipantsweregratefulforthe+relesseffortsofCLCPROProgrammeOfficerandtheSeniorLocustForecas+ngOfficerwhoprovidedthetrainingduringtheworkshop.

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Annexes

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Annex1.WorkshopparRcipants

CLCPROparRcipants

Algeria BillelAhmedSerir

BurkinaFaso AbdelWahabSadagoSawadogo

Chad RasseiNeldjibaye

Mali YoussoufDiallo

Mauritania BocarLemineSakho

Morocco JamalChihrane

Niger IdrissaYacouba

Senegal TataFayeFatou

Tunisia MounaMhafdhi

CLCPRO MohamedLemineHamouny

AGRHYMETparRcipants

AGRHYMET IdrissaMaiga

Trainers

FAO KeithCressman

CLCPRO HichemDridi

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Annex2.Workshopprogramme

09:30 Openingandintroduction

10:00 Break

10:30 MacBookProlaptop&pre-installedapps

12:30 Lunch

14:00 Reviewofnationalbulletins

15:30 Break

16:00 Improvementstoreportingandbulletins

17:30 Endofday

09:00 Introduction:estimatingbreedingusingRv4.1andmakingcalendar

10:30 Break

11:00 Demonstration:Sudanbreeding&calendar(Oct2018–March2019)

12:30 Lunch

14:00 Exercise:EstimatingbreedinginSaudiArabia(Dec2018–March2019)

15:30 Break

16:00 Introduction:Componentsofanalysis

17:30 Endofday

09:00 Groupexercise:AnalysisofDLsituationinEritreaforJan2019

10:30 Break

11:00 (cont.)

12:30 Lunch

14:00 Groupexercise:prepareanalysismaps&presentation

15:30 Break

16:00 Presentationsofanalysisbyeachgroup(10min)&award

17:30 Endofday

09:00 Introduction:eLocust3Dandpreparingregionalpackages

10:30 Break

11:00 Exercise:preparationofeLocust3Dregionalpackage

12:30 Lunch

14:00 Shapefiles,CSVplug-in&townsfile

15:30 Break

16:00 ITCZanalysis,eL3problems;introductiontodrones

17:30 Closingofworkshop

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Annex3.EsRmaRngDesertLocustbreeding

TheresultsofanexerciseusingRv4.1dataandbreedinges+matesfromNovember2018toFebruary2019,showthatthreegenera+onsofbreedingoccurredontheRedSeacoastinEritreafromJuly2018toMarch2019becauseofexcep+onallyandunusuallygoodrainfallinAugustandOctober.Afourthgenera+onwasnotpossiblebecauseofcontrolopera+onsandcondi+onshadbecomedrybytheendofMarch2019.

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2018 2019

ERITREA J J A S O N D J F M A

S4 S1 S2 S3 S4 S1 S2 S3 S4 S1 S2 S3 S4 S1 S2 S3 S4 S1 S2 S3 S4 S1 S2 S3 S4 S1 S2 S3 S4 S1 S2 S3 S4 S1 S2 S3 S4 S1 S2 S3 S4

Précipition

Ponte

(ouefs)

Éclosion

(larves)

Mue imag.

(adultes)

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(adultes)

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Annex4.Pre-andpost-evaluaRons

Thesamepre-andpost-evalua+onassessmentwasgiventopar+cipants,consis+ngof25ques+ons.Theresultsindicatedthatthereweresubstan+algainsinindividualperformancesbytheendoftheworkshop.

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TUN

CHD

SEN

NER

MAU

MOR

MLI

BKF

ALG

Numberofcorrectques+ons(outof25)

0 10 20 30 40 50

23

22

23

23

24

22

21

21

23

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12

15

20

22

16

1

21

16

Pre-evalua+on Post-evalua+on