Great Green Wall (Africa)

Great Green Wall (Africa)
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Name	Great Green Wall (Africa)
Location	Sahel region, Africa
Area	~8,000 km (planned across)
Start	2007
Status	ongoing

Great Green Wall (Africa) The Great Green Wall (Africa) is an African-led initiative to restore degraded land across the Sahel and Sahara strip, linking countries from Djibouti to Senegal. Conceived as a mosaic of reforestation, agroforestry, soil restoration and sustainable land use, the initiative intersects with regional programs such as the African Union's Agenda and international agreements like the Paris Agreement. It aims to address linked crises including land degradation, drought and forced migration affecting populations in the Sahel and adjacent zones.

Background and objectives

The project was announced in 2007 under the auspices of the African Union and the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency, with support from multilateral institutions such as the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the World Bank. Core objectives include restoring 100 million hectares, sequestering 250 million tonnes of carbon, and creating 10 million green jobs by promoting agroforestry nodes, landscape restoration and climate resilience. Target countries include Nigeria, Mali, Chad, Ethiopia, Niger, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Senegal, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Cameroon, Algeria, and Morocco among others that share Sahelian ecosystems.

History and planning

Initial proposals drew on earlier regional schemes such as colonial-era afforestation projects and postcolonial initiatives like the Convention on Biological Diversity-linked restoration pilots. The concept gained political momentum at AU summits and was formalized through the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative (GGWSSI), coordinated by the African Union and hosted by institutions including the Food and Agriculture Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme. Multinational planning involved national ministries of environment and agriculture, research centres such as the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry and regional economic communities like the Economic Community of West African States to design country-level master plans, landscape restoration frameworks and monitoring protocols using remote sensing from agencies like European Space Agency and NASA.

Implementation and projects

Implementation is heterogenous: large-scale tree-planting corridors, farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR) plots, and soil and water conservation terraces are deployed in different landscapes. Flagship national projects include reforestation in Ethiopia’s Tigray and Amhara regions, pastoral rangeland restoration in Niger, and coastal dryland rehabilitation in Senegal’s Lomé proximate zones. Technical partners include the World Bank, African Development Bank, Green Climate Fund, Global Environment Facility and bilateral donors like the European Union and France. Local NGOs, community cooperatives and academic partners such as CIRAD and ICRISAT implement pilot interventions, while technology providers supply GIS mapping, satellite monitoring and drought-tolerant seed varieties derived from research at institutions like the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics.

Ecology and environment

Restoration activities seek to rehabilitate Sahelian savanna, acacia and dry woodland assemblages, increase soil organic matter, and expand carbon stocks to mitigate climate forcing consistent with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change guidance. Biodiversity benefits include habitat recovery for species found in the Sahelian belt and improved connectivity for migratory birds linked to sites recognized under frameworks such as the Ramsar Convention. Ecological approaches emphasize native species—Acacia senegal, Faidherbia albida and other legumes—combined with sustainable grazing management to avoid invasive monocultures and protect endemic flora and fauna catalogued by institutions like the IUCN.

Socioeconomic impacts and community involvement

The initiative targets livelihood enhancement for agro-pastoral households, aiming to boost fuelwood supplies, fodder, crop yields and off-farm employment. Community-driven methods including FMNR and village land-use committees draw on customary institutions, farmer cooperatives and women's groups often connected to microfinance schemes and NGO networks such as Oxfam and Care International. Benefits reported in pilot areas include increased millet and sorghum yields, reduced soil erosion, and new income from fruit and gum arabic harvests tied to markets in Abidjan, Dakar and Lagos. Social safeguards and land tenure interventions involve national land commissions and customary authorities to mediate access and benefit-sharing.

Governance and funding

Governance is multilayered: continental coordination by the African Union and the Great Green Wall Agency interfaces with national ministries and regional economic communities. Financing blends concessional loans and grants from the World Bank, African Development Bank, Green Climate Fund, bilateral donors, philanthropic foundations and private sector investment platforms. Monitoring and accountability use reporting mechanisms aligned with UNFCCC Nationally Determined Contributions and satellite-based verification tools operated by institutions like the Group on Earth Observations.

Challenges and criticisms

Critics highlight uneven progress, with only partial achievement of headline targets and variability between countries due to political instability in areas affected by groups such as Boko Haram and regional conflicts involving Mali and Sudan. Ecological criticisms warn against linear "wall" metaphors and monocultural planting that risk reducing resilience; scholars cite past afforestation failures in the Sahel and the need for integrated water governance, tenure security reforms and inclusive participation. Funding volatility, coordination gaps among donors and the complexity of upscaling FMNR and agroecological practices remain persistent constraints. Despite these challenges, proponents argue that adaptive, locally led restoration combined with robust monitoring can advance both environmental recovery and socioeconomic resilience.

Category:Environmental projects