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The Inquiry: Is Africa’s Great Green Wall failing?

Is Africa’s Great Green Wall failing?

18/05/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - The Inquiry, Is Africa’s Great Green Wall failing?

Africa’s environmental project to create a green belt spanning Africa is only 4% complete

The Great Green Wall was conceived to stop the spread of the Sahara desert across the Sahel region of Africa by 2030. But only 4% is complete. So is it failing?

The Great Green Wall is one of the most ambitious environmental projects ever conceived, creating a vast belt of vegetation spanning Africa by 2030; from Senegal on the Atlantic to Djibouti on the Red Sea. 

It was heralded as Africa’s contribution to the fight against climate change, reversing damage caused by drought, overgrazing and poor farming techniques. The regreening of 11 Sahel countries on the edge of the Sahara Desert would create millions of jobs, boost food security, and reduce conflict and migration.   

The plan was launched by the African Union in 2007, and despite political consensus, only 4% of the Great Green Wall had been completed by 2021. So what has gone wrong? What lessons have been learned, and will a change of strategy ensure its success by the end of the decade? 

Presenter: Audrey Brown
Producer: Ravi Naik
Editor: Tara McDermott
Researcher: Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty
Broadcast Co-ordinators: Brenda Brown

(Photo: The Niger river in Mali. Credit: Getty images)

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