The Great Green Wall for the Sahara and Sahel: A General Overview

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e Copyrights© 2004 AU

May 1, 2023African Union Commission

The Great Green Wall for the Sahara and Sahel A General Overview

By

Elvis Paul N. TANGEM (PhD) Coordinator, GGWSSI African Union Commission

BEAT FARMING SOUTHERN AFRICA CONFERENCE

13th -17th APRIL 2015

The Great Green Wall Initiative

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Brief History Of Green Belts / Walls in Africa The idea of initiating a green belt was born well before

the United Nations conference on combating desertification (Nairobi, 1977). Already there were green belt projects and similar activities in Africa for decades, for example: – Biological fixation of coastal dunes in Morocco

(1915)– The Green belt project in Niamey (1965)– The Green barrier project in Algeria (1971)– The Green belt project in Nouakchott (1975)– The ‘Green Belt for Nigeria’

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Why the renewed focus on Great Green Wall for the Sahara Initiative (GGWSSI)? Rio family of Conventions.

– Climate change– Desertification– Biodiversity

Land tenure and demographic changes Poverty alleviation Increased deforestation Food insecurity MDG goals

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Overview of GGWSSI

In July 2005, President Olusegun Obasanjo of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, proposed the establishment of a “Green Wall for the Sahara Initiative” at the Fifth Ordinary Summit of the African Union (AU).

The Heads of State supported it and requested the Chairperson of the African Union Commission to facilitate the elaboration of a concept paper.

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Overview of GGWSSI A concept paper was subsequently developed

and launched during the Food Security Summit held in Abuja, Nigeria on 7th December 2006.

The Summit in January 2007 adopted a Declaration and Decision on it, urging the Commission to proceed with facilitating the implementation of the concept, and

A Plan of Action to adopted by AU Summit in January 2009.

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Scope Sahara-Sahel Countries: Algeria; Burkina Faso; Cape verde; Chad;

Djibouti; Egypt; Ethiopia; Erithrea; Guinea Bissau; Libya; Mali; Mauritania; Niger; Nigeria; Saharawi Arab Republic; Senegal; Somalia; Sudan; The Gambia; and Tunisia.

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Goals and Objectives Bringing together relevant actors within a framework to

address desertification and environmental degradation through inter-related and coordinated set of activities;

To improve the livelihoods of the inhabitants of the Sahel-Sahara zones

Enhancing environmental sustainability Controlling land degradation; Promoting integrated natural resources management; Arresting the advance of the Sahara Desert; Conserving biological diversity; and Contributing to Poverty Reduction

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Expected OutputsIn the short-term, the Initiative could: Enhance policy harmonization; Create awareness and thus get the wider

public involved in a sustainable manner; Create alternative livelihood systems for the

populations affected and create wealth

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Expected Outputs cont’dIn the long-term, it could: Arrest soil degradation; Slow the advance of the desert frontier; Reduce poverty amongst the participating

populations; Ameliorate climatic conditions within the Wall; Contribute to climate change adaptation and

mitigation; Conserve biodiversity; Produce a publication on lessons learnt. Increase land productivity and food production

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Implementation Modalities and ApproachesThe Initiative will have several dimensions which are

complementary and mutually reinforcing. Enhancement of existing knowledge, and capacity. Resource mapping (biodiversity, soil and water) An institutional survey to identify the various institutions

with various capabilities to work on the different dimensions/aspects of the project

Lessons learned from previous projects would be incorporated in the initiative.

Initiative to be mainstreamed in countries national development plan / strategies (e.g. in the PRSP documents).

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Implementation Modalities and Approaches (contd.)

Except where Transboundary issues are concerned, the initiative would be implemented at the level of individual countries. – This therefore places special

importance on indigenous knowledge, the development of local capacity and the promotion of synergistic actions of local bilateral, multilateral interventions.

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Implementation Modalities and Approaches (contd.) Initiative would be linked to multilateral and

bilateral agencies:– ECOWAS Environmental Programme under the

purview of the Permanent Inter-State Committee for the Control of Drought in the Sahel (CILSS).

– Environment Initiative of NEPAD The United Nations conventions; UNCCD, UNFCC and CBD.

– TerrAfrica Sustainable Land Management– Africa-EU strategic partnership on Climate Change

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Institutional Arrangements Regional Steering Steering Committee of Ministers Technical Committee of MS Experts National Committees

Sectoral institutionsLocal Committees

African Union Commission , General Coordination, Advocacy, Resource

mobilization, Partnerships, Pan African Agency, implementing arm Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting

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Funding Arrangements National budgetary provisions Dedicated Trust Fund Multilateral and bilateral assistance

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Implementation Challenges Sheer size of the area to be managed, compounded by

the weak institutional frameworks at both regional and national levels.

Transhumance activities of livestock herders as they may interfere with reforestation and rehabilitation/development activities in the rangelands.

Land tenure systems (which lands to be planted? Who owns what land?).

Management of access to services and products accruing from the Initiative.

Need for extensive investment to build local capacities. Climate change and variability (droughts and flood). Resource mobilization.

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Overcoming/minimising the challenges cont’d Public/private partnership Phase-wise implementation, Joint development and submission of regional

programme proposals for resource mobilisation Mainstream the roles of females and the

youths in the programme implementation Integrate the Great Green Wall activities in the

national development planning processes e.g. the PRSPs

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Way forward Review of the past green belt projects Identify and implement procedures for transferring

existing green belts to the local communities. Continue to develop local capacities for effective

management. Consolidating and scaling-up existing green belts

where feasible. Mainstream the gender dimension into the Initiative. Integrated approach - rangeland component, soil &

water management and rural development.

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Way forward (contd.)Regional cooperation and experience-

sharing networks focusing on:– Consultations on approaches and modalities

for implementing the national components.– Joint global evaluation of achievements in

the last decades, the results of which should be fed into the development of new technical and economic packages of implementation.

– Training and experience-sharing including field training which should capitalise on the countries positive results.

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GGWSSI- a shared Responsibility

Thank you!ZIKOMO KWAMBIRI