8/14/2019 Green Wall and Gardens

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No Green Wall without small-scale gardens

by

Prof. Dr. Willem VAN COTTHEM

Honorary Professor University of Ghent (Belgium)Beeweg 36 - BE 9080 ZAFFELARE (Belgium)

http://desertification.wordpress.comhttp://www.seedsforfood.org

http://containergardening.wordpress.comhttp://zadenvoorleven.wordpress.com

My attention was caught by some statements in Mrs. PriscillaACHAKPA's interview, referred to a former posting on mydesertification blog:

Nigeria: WEP Wants Green Wall Sahara Programme

http://allafrica.com/stories/201002180504.html

  This Executive Director of the Women Environment Programme(WEP) urged the Nigerian Government to speed up theimplementation of the Green Wall Sahara programme (GWSP),which she called "an integrated development strategy for combating desertification and mitigating the effects of drought and climate change" (see also UNCCD).

Mrs. ACHAKPA observed that the impact of desertification raisedsecurity concerns, especially among the vulnerable groups. Shedeclared: "the impact of climate change is more on women in therural areas as they have little or no understanding of the issuesinvolved". Her NGO, the WEP, would intend to conduct a study ongender awareness of climate change issues, because adequateinformation on climate change is necessary to evolve steps tocontrol it.

Agreeing with some of Mrs. ACHAKPA's ideas, I want to congratulateher for asking to speed up the implementation of the Green Wallprogramme. Indeed, such a nice programme, being a real challengefor all the Sahelian countries involved, merits massive support tospeed up its achievement.

On the other hand, I disagree with her that Nigerian and otherSahelian rural women will be better off with "adequate informationon climate change” . Even supposing that there would be a smallchance to find adequate information on climate change for ruralwomen, I am not so sure that this will help these vulnerable women

to handle their security concerns raised by the impact of desertification.

8/14/2019 Green Wall and Gardens

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Even if the Green Wall programme may play a little bit of aninteresting role in some aspects of climate change, it will not betremendously important for the rural families in the northernprovinces of Nigeria and in the other countries concerned. I rather

believe that it would be more efficient to invest in awarenessbuilding of the local population about the need to combine small-scale agriculture (or gardening) with reforestation in the Green Wallprogramme (agroforestry).

No doubt, we are all aware of the fact that such an enormousreforestation plan, with billions of trees to be planted in the Sahelianbelt, can never be achieved without "an army" of labourers forgrowing seedlings, digging plant pits and planting the seedlings. These labourers will have to be well fed. Tons of food will have tobe produced at the local level. By whom? By the local women?

In this case, we would prefer that long time before the activities of the GWSP start all women can get "adequate information onways and means to cultivate sufficient food for hundreds(thousands ?) of labourers of the GWSP working in theirregion".

We can't imagine that these women would be more interested inclimate change issues than in best practices of food production intheir dry region.

If well trained in cultivating all necessary species of vegetables andfruits, (dryland farming), they can not only use these skills duringthe implementation of the GWSP, but also for the rest of their lifeand that of their children, grandchildren, ...

 Therefore, just allow me this little piece of advice: start today layingout a small-scale garden for every woman in the northern provincesof Nigeria where the GWSP will be applied, because if there is notsufficient food production in those provinces when the labourershave to start planting trees, there will not be a Green Wall at all.

Never, because planting trees with an empty stomach is soextremely difficult. We all know this, even those strongly interestedin climate change.