The Green Wall of Africa

The Green Wall Initiative of Africa. Picture from: National Geographic

What is the Green Wall Initiative?

In recent years, Northern Africa in particular has seen a decline in the quality of arable land notably due to climate change and poor land management. Desertification, land degradation and drought along with climate change and extreme weather events has a drastic impact on the food security and livelihoods of communities living in the Sahel region of Northern Africa. The Green Wall for the Saharan and the Sahel Initiative (GGWSSI) was proposed in 2005 with the objective of growing 8000 km long line of trees and plants across the entire Sahel from Senegal to Djibouti crossing 12 African nations to try and halt desertification The objectives are: "By 2030 restore 50 million hectares of land, sequest 250 million tons of carbon; support 300 million people in communities along the Sahel and provide access for 10 million smallholder farmers to climate resilient agricultural technologies." (Climate Initiative Platform, 2020). This would improve the resilience of both ecosystems and communities along the Sahel-Saharan zone to climate change through land resource management, sustainable development and living improvements (Berrahmouni et al, 2014). 

Desertification of the Sahel

Since the 1960's the Sahel has been experiencing extreme droughts that have been related to climate change and anthropogenic pressures. These droughts have caused large losses of livestock and famines such as the 2011 famine caused by an extreme drought that threatened the lives of 9.5 million people in the Sahel. Communities in the Sahel rely on livestock as their main source of income, which has effects on the herbaceous layer of grasslands and reduces the productivity of the grassland thus, increasing the ecosystem's vulnerability to drought (Hein and Ridder, 2006). Severe overuse of the soils by people and livestock coupled with the effects of climate change on precipitation patterns has resulted in desertification in the Sahel as the Sahara grown southwards at a rate of 0.6km/year. If this process continues, it will have devastating effects on an estimated 500 millions people who rely on the Sahel grasslands for survival (Morrison, 2016)

Can Reforestation Halt Desertification?

Theoretically, having an 8000 km defence line of trees could help to restore land balance and ecosystem, however, the survival of the trees depend on precipitation and care. It is estimated that 80% of the trees planted in the Sahel since the 1980's have died from a lack of stable water resources. Many argue that while the idea of the Great Green Wall was good, it is not realistic as many of the trees are not planted anywhere near villages that could provide care for saplings. In addition, continued overuse of the land over decades could not simply be reverted by planting a few trees. 

    However, the idea of the Green Wall gave way to a much more efficient technique of re-greening the Sahel through the direct involvement of local communities. Through the use of indigenous land management, local farms began to see trees emerging naturally through their water harvesting techniques. The idea of the Green Wall has evolved into what the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) calls: "Africa's flagship initiative to combat land degradation, desertification and drought." an initiative that breaks down planting 8000 km of trees into smaller, more manageable steps of turning a physical wall into a metaphorical mosaic of land use while engaging with the local communities. 

The Future of the Sahel

While it can be expected that climate change will have a continued effect in the Sahel in the years to come, by raising awareness about the Green Wall initiative and helping locals return to indigenous modification of traditional agriculture, the desertification can be slowed. Reforesting the landscape helps the ecosystem retain moisture and has a direct positive impact on local farming and famine as observed in Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali the past 20 years. Thus, by planting trees efficiently and through equitable resource sharing, the effects of climate change could be lessened for local communities in the Sahel.