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 the Sudan , located in north-eastern Africa, lies almost entirely within the tropics between latitude 21° 55´ and 9° 29´N and longitudes 21° 54´ and 38° 31´ E. It is bounded on the north by Egypt; on the east by the Red Sea, Eritrea, and Ethiopia; on the south by South Sudan and Central African Republic; and on the west by Chad and Libya. The total area of Sudan is 1,861,484 sq. km.
Generally the landscape is flat, featureless plain; desert dominates the north .There are a few groups of hills and a mountain rising to over 1,500 m; Jebel Mara mountain (3,090 m) in Darfur state in the west and the Red Sea Hills (over 2,000 m) in the north-east near the coast.
The country can be divided into two natural regions. North of Khartoum is primarily desert. The central part of the country is mostly a grass-covered plain. Sudan has a range of tropical continental climates with large daily and seasonal fluctuations in temperature. In the deserts, winter minimum temperatures as low as 5°C are common at night, while summer maximum temperatures often exceed 44°C. In the vicinity of Khartoum the average annual temperature is about 27°C.
Temperatures, humidity and rainfall are all higher in the south.
There is a large variation in annual rainfall, from less than 75 mm in the desert, 75 mm to 300 mm in the semi-desert, 300 mm to 1,500 mm in the woodland savannas and to over 1,500 mm in the montane vegetation. Dust storms, called haboobs, occur frequently.
Sudan harbours some of the most important areas for Desert Locust breeding in the Central Region, particularly during the winter season along the Red Sea coastal plains from the border to Egypt in the north to the Tokar Delta in the south.
Breeding during the summer season can occur in a vast area from West Darfur, stretching across North Kordufan to Kassala in the east. The area potential for Desert Locust breeding in Sudan is huge. The total area is estimated of 845,000 km2.
Since 2004, the autonomous Central Institution for Desert Locust Research and Control (CIDLRC) under the Plant Protection Directorate of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Khartoum is responsible to coordinate and oversee all
Desert Locust survey and control operations in both, the winter and summer seasons in close collaboration with the Agricultural Departments of the affected states. The Central Institution has sufficient capacities to intervene with its own forces in case required, and manages one Outstation in Suakin to directly supervise the strategically important operations during the winter campaign. The Head Office in Khartoum is operating a Locust Information Office, equipped with a modern data management system, Reconnaissance and Management System of the Environment of Schistocerca (RAMSES).