Make the Great Green Wall a priority for the Sahel region!

Climate change is definitely the most important challenge of our time. While extreme weather events are multiplying and accelerating all over the world, and as world leaders are meeting this week for the UN General Assembly, I would like to focus today on the Great Green Wall initiative in the Sahel, supported by Enabel at the request of Meryame Kitir, Minister of Development Cooperation and Major Cities.

This pan-African initiative was officially launched in 2007. The Great Green Wall (GGW) has gained new momentum since the One Planet Summit in January 2021. By 2030, this grand undertaking aims to have restored a large stretch of 100 million hectares of degraded land ranging from Senegal to Djibouti. The initiative aims not only to combat desertification, but has multiple objectives addressing socio-economic and security concerns. By comprehensively combining sustainable growth, resilience of local communities in the face of climate change and a solution to the prevailing insecurity, the Great Green Wall initiative could prove to be a way out of the long-lasting complex and multi-dimensional crisis that the Sahel region is going through. The necessary human and financial resources must be mobilised to carry out an array of projects that will positively impact the entire region, the continent and ultimately the rest of the world.

The Great Green Wall, an initiative with the resilience of people and ecosystems at its heart

Although the Sahel region Great Green Wall initiative came to fruition in 2007 under the auspices of the African Union, the idea was actually developed in the 1970s. This idea gained in importance at the beginning of the 21st century, when Sahel countries were deeply affected by chronic political and security instability, with the impact of climate change exacerbating the vulnerability of Sahara and Sahel countries. Land degradation and desertification has many consequences. It leads to conflicts between population groups, aggravates migration and food insecurity and underlies the spread of jihadist terrorism.

The GGW is therefore of crucial importance and more than a simple project; it stands for more than the simple restoration of the agricultural ecosystem and nature. To fully deliver, a paradigm shift and an international mobilisation capable of proposing an ambitious new strategy and adequate policies are needed. The One Planet Summit on 11 January 2021 emphasised the international community’s new ambition. 11.8?billion euros have been pledged to the 11 African countries concerned by 2025[1].

The African Union is therefore not alone in its desire to bring this epic initiative to fruition. It can count on the support of its strategic partners, including Belgium, which is aware that economic development and social well-being are prerequisites for the stability and security of countries.

An avenue for solutions provided that concrete and coordinated action is taken

If we do not want this initiative to become a distant utopia, additional efforts are needed on the ground, as only 15% of the Wall was estimated to be completed in September 2021[2]. The bold idea whose principle seemed relatively simple at first glance, eventually proved difficult to put in place since many structural and cyclical obstacles hinder implementation.

Lack of funding can be cited as a primary constraint, even though investments are crucial in rural development, water resources management and infrastructure to provide responses to land degradation and climate change. In addition, there is a lack of capacity and means to adapt agricultural practices to climate change and hazards. Furthermore, the rise of armed conflicts in the areas where this mosaic of land development is taking place, combined with extreme weather conditions, are delaying the realisation of the initiative.

Addressing these multi-dimensional challenges is crucial because it means investing in people and jobs on a continent whose population will double by 2050. It is therefore essential to mobilise for a concrete strategy combining social, economic and environmental development. Participating in the realisation of this green belt is one of the missions and ambitions we have set ourselves at Enabel.

At the instigation of Meryame Kitir, Minister of Development Cooperation and of Major Cities, Belgium released 50?million euros for the period comprised between 2022 and 2026 for a Climate portfolio, which is entrusted to Enabel. These funds will be invested in Belgium’s four partner countries in the Sahel region: Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali and Senegal. There is also a regional component. The programme will support regional, national and local authorities in fighting food insecurity, sustainably managing natural resources, creating green and decent jobs and promoting gender equality.

[1] Antoine FONTENEAU, ? Biodiversité : le One Planet Summit relance le méga-projet de “Grande muraille verte ? en Afrique ?, TV5 Monde, 11 January 2021.

[2] Marine LAMOUREUX, ? La “Grande muraille verte”, une utopie qui commence à sortir de terre ?, La Croix, 4 September 2021.