THE GREAT GREEN

WALL
MEMBERS:
 JAMES MATHENGE
 KELVIN THUO
 NICHOLAS OCHIENG
 EVERYN VISIKWA
1. Introduction and background – Kelvin
2. Objectives of the great green wall- Nicholas
3. Progress, Benefits and challenges- Everlyn
4. International support and collaboration with conclusion- James

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 The Great Green Wall is a project that began in 2007 to help
people and nature deal with the climate crisis and ecosystem
degradation.
The African Union adopted the project to combat
desertification in the Sahel region.
The Great Green Wall is also intended to prevent the Sahara
desert from expanding into one of the world's poorest
regions.
UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION TO COMBAT
DESERTIFICATION (UNCCD)
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sahara_satellite_hires.jpg
Satellite photo of the Sahara
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The Great Green Wall snakes the Sahel region from Senegal in the West to Djibouti in the
East. Several milestones have been reached across the continent, with some countries
being more successful than others.
While some countries started the implementation of the Great Green Wall activities as
early as 2008, others joined as late as 2014, when the declaration was ratified. The 11
countries selected as intervention zones for the Great Green Wall are Burkina Faso, Chad,
Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sudan.
The total area of the Great Green Wall initiative extends to 156 million hectares, with the
largest areas located in Niger, Mali, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. Since its launch in 2007, a lot
of progress has been made in restoring the fertility of Sahelian lands.

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The Great Green Wall is a land restoration initiative that
aims to:

1. Increase the amount of arable land in the Sahel region.

The initiative involves planting trees and implementing
sustainable practices to restore degraded land.
These actions help improve soil fertility, retain water and create a
better environment for crops to grow.
As a result, more land becomes suitable for farming.

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2. Help people and nature cope with climate change.
The Great Green Wall helps people and nature cope with climate change by
planting trees and vegetation to restore degraded land, preventing soil
erosion, retaining water, and promoting biodiversity.
This strengthens ecosystems, making them more resilient to climate
variations and extreme weather events, ultimately benefiting both
communities and the environment.

3. Boost economic prosperity in participating countries.

The Great Green Wall boosts economic prosperity in participating countries
by creating jobs, fostering sustainable agriculture, promoting eco-tourism,
and improving natural resource management.
Additionally, it enhances food security, reduces poverty, and stimulates local
economies through increased agricultural productivity and market
opportunities. 8
4. Creates jobs.
The Great Green Wall creates jobs by engaging local communities in various activities
such as tree planting, land restoration, and sustainable land management. This initiative
generates employment opportunities in sectors like agriculture, forestry, and
conservation, contributing to economic development and improving livelihoods in the
participating regions.
5. Reduce hunger.
The Great Green Wall reduces hunger by improving agricultural productivity through
the restoration of degraded land. By creating conditions suitable for farming and
promoting sustainable agriculture, the initiative enhances food security in the Sahel
region, thereby reducing hunger and malnutrition in local communities.
6. Reduce conflicts.
We know that areas affected by desertification and land degradation, competition for
scarce resources such as water and arable land can lead to conflicts, therefore the Great
Green Wall reduce the conflicts by restoring the degraded lands, which increases the
availability of arable land and water. This can help reduce tensions over scarce
resources, as communities have more access to the land and water they need for farming
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and living.
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https://trees.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/TREES-Before-after-landscape-
1024x683.png

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 PROGRESS
As of August 2023, the Great Green Wall has restored about 44
million acres of degraded land, which is 18% of the total
target. However, the project has been slow-going, with some
saying that progress has been slow.
The Great Green Wall is a project that involves 11 countries in the
Sahel-Sahara region. The goal is to plant trees and bushes that
stretch almost 8,000 kilometers from Mauritania in the west to
Djibouti in the east. The project is intended to combat land
degradation and restore native plant life.

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BENEFITS:

• Environmental benefits: The Great Green Wall aims to improve

soil quality, increase biodiversity and combat climate change by
sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
• Economic benefits: The Great Green Wall is expected to create
millions of jobs for local communities in agriculture and
forestry, and promote sustainable development.
• Social benefits: The Great Green Wall can help to combat
poverty, promote gender equality, and improve the livelihoods
of local communities.
• Political benefits: The Great Green Wall is a symbol of African
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unity and cooperation, and promotes regional integration.

CHALLENGES:

• Financial constraints: The Great Green Wall project is a massive

undertaking, and requires significant investment. Funding for the project
is often uncertain and insufficient, which could lead to delays in
implementation and completion.
• Political instability: The implementation of the Great Green Wall is
complicated by the political instability in some of the countries involved in
the project, which could affect the project’s progress and success.
• Lack of local involvement: The Great Green Wall project is often criticized
for a lack of involvement of local communities in the planning and
implementation of the project, which could lead to conflicts and a lack of
ownership of the project by local communities.
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• Implementation challenges: The Great Green Wall project
faces challenges in terms of technical implementation,
such as selecting the appropriate tree species, ensuring
their survival, and managing the vast area of the green
belt.

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Overall, the Great Green Wall has the potential to provide
significant benefits to Africa in terms of environmental,
economic, social, and political factors.

However, to achieve its goals, it is important to address the

challenges associated with the project, including financial
constraints, political instability, lack of local involvement, and
implementation challenges.

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According to a 2021 progress update, just 4% of the
Great Green Wall has been completed. In countries
riven with conflict and violence, such as Mali and
Burkina Faso, where vast swaths are overrun with
militants, the work has not really started.

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The Great Green Wall Initiative (GGWI) is a project that
involves more than 20 countries and international
partners. The GGWI is led by the Pan-African Agency of the
Great Green Wall and the African Union Commission. The
Global Environment Facility and the World Bank have also
invested in the GGWI.
The GGWI also collaborates with BirdLife,
Vogelbescherming, and the Green Climate Fund.

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The Great Green Wall Accelerator (GGW) is a funding vehicle that has
attracted more than US$19 billion in funding since ‘26th conference of the
parties COP26. The GGW Accelerator is coordinated through the Pan Africa
Agency for the Great Green Wall (PAAGGW) with support from
UNCCD. Donors include:
•France
•The United Nations
•The World Bank
•Philanthropists such as billionaire Jeff Bezos

The African Development Bank is a major partner in the project. Other

funding sources include:
•The European Union
•The African Union
•GCF (green climate fund)
•IFAD (international Fund for Agricultural Development)
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•A.R.C
Since its launch in 2007, the Great Green Wall
project in Africa's Sahel region has raised much
hope on the continent.
The African Development Bank is a major partner
in the project, which involves building an 8,000
km long and 15 km wide swathe of trees,
grasslands, vegetation, and plants across the Sahel

https://www.greatgreenwall.org/

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PLANT A SEED TODAY. ENJOY LATER

• ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS TO WAKE UP AND

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CHANGE; GRETA THUNBERG

THE END

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