Page 49 - Bulletin, Vol.83 No.1, April 2024

Originally a vast tree-planting initiative, the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and Sahel
has several environmental objectives: to restore arable land and thus combat the food
crisis, to help limit global warming in a region where the temperature is set to rise by
3°C by 2050, and to isolate carbon-using plants.

To ensure the success of this initiative, the Harmonised Regional Strategy stresses the
importance of partnerships between stakeholders at national, regional, and sub-regional
levels, and promotes the participation of local players to guarantee the sustainability of
actions. The stated aim is to secure 10 million jobs in rural areas and build a sustainable
infrastructure. However, implementation is not that simple.
Implementation

Reforestation is carried out during the rainy season on 600-hectare plots where trees
are planted in areas protected from cattle by wire fences. . The fences can be removed
after having planted the trees, subsequently enabling the cattle to graze in the shade of
the trees. Multi-purpose gardens run by cooperatives are also set up near villages to
produce fresh fruit and vegetables.

Circular garden in Senegal
In planting, we discuss assisted natural regeneration as the current density of flora is
often insufficient to foresee spontaneous natural regeneration. Assisted natural
regeneration involves selecting a favoured shoot and cutting the others so that growth is
concentrated on a single shoot.

In some very dry regions, such as Mali, planting is optimised by using furrows or the
ancestral zaï technique, which concentrates the water on the young plants.

Seedlings are planted with pre-existing local species that are resistant to the very low
local rainfall and are of economical interest. The management of the seedling nurseries
and the created multi-purpose gardens (kitchen gardens) is entrusted to the women,
thus creating jobs and food production at the local level.

AAFI-AFICS BULLETIN, Vol. 83 No.1, 2024-04 48

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