The DLCO-EA was established by an International Convention signed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 1962, and is registered with the United Nations. This followed the desert locust plagues of the 1940s that left massive hunger and deaths across the region, and the recommendation, in October 1961 by the 3rd session of the Food and Agriculture Organization Eastern Africa Desert Locust Control Sub-committee, for its establishment. The desert locusts breed in the Sahel region of Africa and migrate to the rest of the world when food resources are exhausted within the breeding areas.