Across the Sahara

These pictures were taken in November 1989, during a crossing of the Sahara, from Niamey to Rabat. I had just spent two months in Niger to teach some students on the locusts biology and ecology in the AGRHYMET center, in Niamey, a specialized agency of the Permanent Inter-State Committee against Drought in the Sahel (CILSS). I also spent 2 weeks in Tamesna, north of Agadez, to study the Desert locust populations and their biotopes, just a few months after the last invasion which began in 1987, and ended in a rather unexpected way during the first months of 1989.

Then, I had to attend an international conference in Rabat on research perspectives in the context of locust control (27 Nov - 2 Dec). With some colleagues from CIRAD we decided to reach Rabat crossing the Sahara with our two 4x4 Toyota. From Niamey, we pulled through Agadez, Arlit, In Guezzam, Tamanrasset, In Salah, Reggane, Bechar, Errachidia, and finally Rabat after four long days. At that time, Saharan tracks were not paved, the traces sometimes barely visible, the meetings with other cars rare and already suspicious... but the desert landscapes were really gorgeous.

In Rabat, the conference was organized under the auspices of the Francophone University Association (ex AUPELF-UREF). I had to give a communication on the desert locust and his last invasion. Our research unit at CIRAD - the PRIFAS - could help finance travel and living expenses for many African participants through funds from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris. I have, on this occasion, meet distinguished colleagues that I knew long standing for their reputation: Josiane and Adrien Girardie from Bordeaux, François Ramade from Orsay, Arnold de Loof from Leuven... to name just a few. The most unexpected encounter was with Prof. Pierre Aguesse installed in Morocco, but that I had as a professor of zoology at the University of Orléans in 1967. In 1968, Pierre Aguesse had recommended me for a Master in entomology (with a special training in locusts) which was, at that time, organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and the University of Paris-Orsay. We met 20 years later on the platform to co-chair a session of this international conference. For me it was an intense and moving moment.

Essaid A., ‎‎1991. La Lutte anti-acridienne. Colloque international sur les perspectives de recherche biologique et chimique dans le cadre de la lutte anti-acridienne. Rabat, Maroc. 27 novembre - 2 décembre 1989. ‎ John Libbey, Eurotext, Montrouge. 329 p. (Collection Universités francophones).‎

Photos (from left to right): Aïr moutains, Niger / Inafer south from erg Iguidi, Tamesna, Niger / Between In Guezzam and Tamanrasset, Algeria (3 photos) / Between Tamanrasset and In Salah, Algeria (4 photos) / Between Réggane and Béchar, Algeria (3 photos).