Throughout history, people have had to fight insect pests to reduce diseases, minimize food losses, protect agricultural trade or simply to avoid the nuisance of stinging, biting and buzzing bugs. Insect pest control is usually implemented locally in individual fields or properties.

These uncoordinated efforts often prove inefficient since they only suppress a proportion of the targeted pest population. Pests from nearby untreated areas remain unscathed and can re-enter the treated areas, the damage continues, and people have little choice but to apply the control measures again and again to protect their livelihoods.

Area-wide pest management provides a more cost-effective and sustainable approach by proactively targeting entire pest populations. In this way, pest populations can be contained at low levels for longer periods and pest management methods can be integrated that are less reliant on pesticides and that better address ecological and environmental concerns.