Africa is trying to establish a Great Green Wall to halt the advancing Sahara Desert. The problem is important because the desert is slowly nibbling at fertile land, plunging the residents of these regions into poverty. The FAO estimates that 2 million hectares of forested areas disappear every year in Africa. The infertility of the soil is already responsible for a serious food crisis in the Sahel.
Ratified in 2007 by the African Union, this huge project now comprises eleven sub-Saharan countries across the continent. At the end of N'Djamena Summit, held in June 2010 in Chad, a pan-African agency in charge of the project was created to coordinate the titanic work of reforestation ahead.
From Senegal to Djibouti, an ambitious social and environmental project
The Great Green Wall, designed to fight against the desert, consists of planting a wide strip of greenery more than 7100 km long and 15 km wide that would extend from Dakar to Djibouti through eleven countries (Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan and Chad).
This belt of vegetation is meant to be composed of species resistant to high temperatures and drought, but also useful for population and economically profitable. Acacia, jujube, date palm, mango should appear on the list of preferred species. But not only trees: shrubs and ground cover plants should also be planted. Local peculiarities of soil and climate conditions will naturally be taken into account when selecting species to plant. The Green Wall will also include forests that are already present on the project route, either natural or artificial, and spaces will be dedicated to nature reserves, both to wildlife and the flora. Crops and orchards will complement this diversity.
Fight against poverty: the project should also involve local people and governments
Regarding space maintenance issues, populated areas could be placed under the responsibility of the villagers, and unpopulated areas will be supported by utilities in the countries concerned, or else by private or local institutions. Pools of water retention are also planned (about 80 basins per country) to provide water for vegetation during the dry season i.e. to compensate for lack of rain.
Involving the whole Africa and the international community
In practice, 600 million will be needed over the period of 10 years to achieve the Great Green Wall. However, African states involved in the project have difficulty coping alone with these costs. Today (nearly 3 years after the approval of the project), 10 500 ha have already been planted in Senegal, to add to the few hundred acres in other states. This only represents a few kilometers ...
But the international community is following the project closely and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has pledged an assistance of 119 million dollars (96 million Euros) to the countries which are to house the Great Wall. An allocation of $ 6.6 million (5.3 million Euros) to 23 million dollars (18.3 million Euros) will be assigned to each of the eleven countries. Beyond the direct funding, the GEF also serves as a catalyst to encourage other donors to support this African project.
