Desert Locust Monitoring, Forecasting and Assessment in Africa and Southwest Asia. Covering Afghanistan. A research team RSCROP led by Prof. Huang Wenjiang and Prof. Dong Yingying of the ‘Digital Earth Science Platform’ Project in CASEarth has tracked the migration path of the Desert Locust and make a detailed analysis on the possibility of the Desert Locust invasion of China. Integrated with multi-source Earth Observation data, e.g. meteorological data, field data, and remote sensing data (such as GF series in China, MODIS and Landsat series in US, Sentinel series in EU), and self-developed models and algorithms for Desert Locust monitoring and forecasting, the research team constructed the ‘Vegetation pests and diseases monitoring and forecasting system’, which could regularly release thematical maps and reports on Desert Locust. This report focuses on the desert locust monitoring and loss assessment of Afghanistan. The results showed that, from March to August 2020, desert locusts in Afghanistan were mainly distributed on the western, southern and eastern borders, the newly damaged vegetation area was 101.2 thousand hectares, including 23.3 thousand hectares of cropland, 70.1 thousand hectares of grassland, and 7.8 thousand hectares of the shrub. From September to December, the swarms of locusts in Iran and Afghanistan spread to Indo-Pakistan border. At the same time, as ground control operations continued, the number of desert locusts in Afghanistan decreased significantly. The specific research results are as follows. From January to February 2020, the locust swarms in the summer breeding area on Indo-Pakistan border migrated southwest to southern Iran and central Pakistan for spring breeding. In late February, the locust swarms in the spring breeding area in Pakistan spread westward to Khowst Province and formed early locust swarms. In March, the locust swarms on the Indo-Pakistan border and central Pakistan continued to spread southwest to southeast and northeast Afghanistan, leading to an increase in the number of locusts in Afghanistan. In April, locusts in Pakistan continued to spread to southern Iran and southeastern Afghanistan. As the locusts mature, spawning and reproduction, the number of locusts has further increased. Till the end of April, desert locust in Afghanistan harmed about a total of 30.4 thousand hectares of vegetation area, including 7.2 thousand hectares of cropland, 20.4 thousand hectares of grassland, and 2.8 thousand hectares of shrub. From May to June, affected by rainfall, locusts in southern Iran continued to lay eggs, reproduce, and mature. Some locust swarms spread northeast to southern Afghanistan, and spread north to western Afghanistan, resulting in a significant increase in the number of locusts in Afghanistan. Till the end of June, desert locust in Afghanistan newly harmed about a total of 48.8 thousand hectares of vegetation area, including 10.5 thousand hectares of cropland, 34.5 thousand hectares of grassland, and 3.8 thousand hectares of shrub. From August to September, the number of locusts decreased significantly due to ground control operations. Till the end of August, desert locust in Afghanistan newly harmed about a total of 22.0 thousand hectares of vegetation area, including 5.6 thousand hectares of cropland, 15.2 thousand hectares of grassland, and 1.2 thousand hectares of shrub. The research results show that, from March to August 2020, desert locust in Afghanistan harmed about a total of 101.2 thousand hectares of vegetation area, including 23.3 thousand hectares of cropland, 70.1 thousand hectares of grassland, and 7.8 thousand hectares of shrub, accounting for 0.4%, 0.4% and 4.3% of the total cropland, grassland, and shrub in Afghanistan. The affected areas are mainly located in the west, north and south of Afghanistan. Among them, Khowst Province in the northeast had the largest affected area (with affected area of 18.5 thousand hectares), followed by Nangarhār province in the northeast (with affected area of 14.7 thousand hectares), again were Ghaznī province in the northeast, Herāt province in the west, Paktyā province in the northeast, Paktika province in the east, Zābol province in the southeast, and Helmand province in the south, with affected areas as 12.3, 8.9, 7.7, 6.3, 6.3, 5.5 thousand hectares respectively. Orūzgān province in the southeast is affected of 4.2 thousand hectares. Nīmrūz province in the south is affected of 4.2 thousand hectares. Vardak province in the northeast and Dāykundī province in the central are affected by 3.0 and 2.3 thousand hectares respectively. Farāh province in the southwest and Lowgar province in the northeast are affected by 2.2 and 1.2 thousand hectares respectively. Laghmān province in the northeast and Kandahār province in the southeast are affected as 1.2 and 1.0 thousand hectares respectively. Kābul province in the northeast, Ghor province in the central, Konar province in the northeast, and Bāmīān province in the central are affected by 0.9, 0.4, 0.3, and 0.1 thousand hectares respectively. Comprehensive analysis shows that, from September to December 2020, the locust swarms in Afghanistan moved eastward to the summer breeding areas on Indo-Pakistan border. At the same time, as ground control continues, the scale and number of desert locust swarms in Afghanistan have been significantly reduced. The Desert Locust has ravaged the Horn of Africa and Southwest Asia, posing serious threats on agricultural production and food security of the inflicted regions. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations（FAO）has issued a worldwide Desert Locust warning, calling for joint efforts from multiple countries in prevention and control of the pest to ensure food security and regional stability.