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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.
List of Illustrations
Foreword by Robert A. Cheke, (National Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, UK)
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. An Uninvited Christmas Visitor
2. Luk Haiyah
3 The Locust Life
4. The Ogaden
5. Stones
6. The Tip of the Horn of Africa
7. A Change of Aircraft
Epilogue: Controlling the Desert Locust – the Situation In 2018. Progress and Problems
Afterword
Appendix
Index
Colin Everard has worked for over forty years with developing countries as a technical cooperation practitioner. His contribution to the development of safe civil aviation has been widely recognised and he is a recipient of the Gold Award of the International Civil Aviation Organization. He has been a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management, and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply. He lives in Vienna.
"It is a very personal account that echoes humanity in a world where being human is sometimes disappearing [...] [A] must-read for those wishing to learn about the world's most dangerous migratory pest [...] Desert Locust Plagues is a modest testimony to the silent and mostly unknown efforts by so many people who continue to protect our food security."
– Keith Cressman, Senior Locust Forecasting Officer, Food and Agricultural Organization, United Nations
"Everard's book is both a memoir of an exciting and sometimes hazardous career – every chapter has a close brush with death – and also an account of the development of the technology."
– Times Literary Supplement
"In this lovely little book – part science, part autobiography – Colin Everard tells tales of his time in the Horn of Africa 60 or so years ago [...] [and] offers a keen analysis of the scientific developments that have helped the cause – from pesticides that don't do too much environmental harm, to satellite observation [...] [His] appreciation of the region's natural beauty is infectious."
– Geographical Magazine
"One of the great unsung achievements of the 20th century and Everard pays it a fitting tribute."
– Daily Mail
"Everard's passages on locusts are interesting, as are those on the technological developments."
– The Spectator
"An enthralling account for anyone who remembers how tough and yet supremely fulfilling it could be to brave deserts, mountains, the elements and hostility in order to further a crucial cause. If your patch included any of Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti or Kenya it is nigh on compulsory reading."
– Bill Jackson, Bodleian Library, Oxford University
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