The past 20 years have seen the development of bait technologies that enable livestock keepers to control tsetse flies and, hence, African trypanosomiasis. The techniques have, however, often been applied on too small a scale, without due regard to the realities of tsetse population dynamics. The consequent lack of progress has led to calls for a return to large-scale operations. Analysis of successful programmes to control or eliminate tsetse in southern Africa suggests that the combined use of recently improved bait methods and insecticide spraying will provide the building blocks for achieving the wider objective of the African Union, which is to create large tsetse-free zones.