The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

The Republic of Yemen, is located in south-western Asia on the south-western corner of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bounded on the west by the Red Sea, on the south by the Gulf of Aden, on the north and north-east by Saudi Arabia and to the east by Oman. Yemen includes several islands in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Total area is about 527,970 km2.

A coastal plain, called the Tihâmah, extends inland from the Red Sea for about 50 km. Steep cliffs, cut through by water channels, or wadis, rise from the coastal plain to a high plateau, called the High Yemen, lying about 1 800 m above sea level. Surrounding mountains extend as high as 3,760 m at Jabal an Nabî Shu'ayb. From the plateau the land slopes gradually eastward to the Rub' al Khali desert of Saudi Arabia. A narrow, sandy coastal plain about 10 to 15 km in width extends along the Gulf of Aden. Inland, it rises to a dry, hilly plateau.

Average temperatures for Yemen as a whole vary from about 27°C in June to about 14°C in January, but extreme temperature (up to 54°C) and high humidity is characteristic of the Tihâmah. Rainfall averages about 130 mm on the south coast, while the High Yemen receives 250 to 400 mm per year. Desert areas receive little or no yearly precipitation.

Yemen harbours two important breeding areas: the winter breeding areas of the Tihamah region long the Red Sea coast from the border to Saudi Arabia in the north to Mawshij in the south, along the coast of the Gulf of Aden from Lahij in the west to Al-Mualla in the east, and during the summer season in the interior of the country in the Shabwah area.

Desert Locust survey and control in Yemen is being coordinated by the national Desert Locust Monitoring and Control Centre (DLMCC) under the General Department for Plant Protection of Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation in Sana’a. The Centre is comparatively well equipped (see further information), but limited in its personnel and is therefore depending in its survey and control operations on the collaboration with the Agricultural Offices of the affected Governorates (Abyan, Hadramout, Lahij, Shabwah, Hajjah and Hodiedah). The DLMCC in Sana’a is operating a Locust Information Office, equipped with a modern data management system, Reconnaissance and Management System of the Environment of Schistocerca (RAMSES).