The Great Green Wall is a long-held African dream, currently taking root on the edge of the world’s largest hot desert: the Sahara. Dubbed the "next wonder of the world", the ongoing project will eventually see the growth of an 8,000km ‘green wall’ made from trees and plants across the entire African continent, from Senegal in the West to Djibouti in the East. The aim? To transform the lives of some of the planet’s poorest people.
A fantastical and almost impossible-sounding initiative, it was first conceived in 2005 by the former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, as a way to create an ecological barrier against the expanding Sahara desert – ultimately, to contain it. It has since evolved into a more ambitious pan-African movement, which aims to provide food, agriculture jobs and security for millions of people across the region. Once complete, the Great Green Wall will be the largest living structure on the planet, three times the length of the Great Barrier Reef.
The Sahel region of Africa, which spans the southern edge of the Sahara desert, is home to more than 100 million of the world's poorest people. The region is on the frontline of climate change and millions of locals are already facing its devastating impact through persistent droughts, lack of food, and conflicts over dwindling natural resources. For these reasons, it is estimated that as many as 60 million people could be set to migrate to Europe from degraded parts of Africa by 2020.
Amidst these challenges, the Great Green Wall offers a key part of the solution. By 2030, with the support of the international community, countries in the region hope to restore 50 million hectares of land and create 350,000 jobs. A new round of funding at the recent Global Climate Summit in Paris, to the tune of US $4 billion over the next five years, raises hopes that this grand ambition can now be realised.
A key partner in the initiative, the Head of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Monique Barbut, says, ‘The Great Green Wall is a symbol of hope not just for Africa, but for the whole world. It shows us that, by working with rather than against our natural environment, we can grow solutions to humanity’s greatest challenges, like climate change and migration.’
James Withers, Creative Director of Film at the global brand agency, venturethree, was in Koyly Alpha, Senegal, late last year, on behalf of the UNCCD to document the filming of their VR film about the GGW, called Growing A World Wonder. Told from the perspective of an eight-year-old girl called Binta, the film shows the way in which the project is already transforming the lives of those living on, and indeed growing, the wall.
One of these people is Binta’s own grandfather, Moussa, a village elder who remembers a time when the land could sustain a decent living for the people of his village: “The Great Green Wall will make our lives better again. For a long time, there were no jobs here and young people were leaving for Dakar; now people have things to do and there is hope for the future.”
Click through to see how this modern wonder of the world is taking shape and helping to change lives right across the Sahel.
Since the early 1970s, climatic changes, over-farming and persistent drought have had a catastrophic effect on agricultural production in the Sahel. The diminishing productivity of the land has had led to declining food and water security, and huge loss of jobs in rural areas.
Moussa, a village elder from Koyly Alpha:“I remember when the land here was beautiful and green, with huge trees and the animals had plenty of food to eat. Then 30 years ago the desert started taking over our land and life became very hard. The rivers and lakes dried up. People left to the cities. And it became harder and harder to grow food.”
Photographed by: James Withers
With diminished access to fertile land, shepherds across the region have increasingly been forced to graze their herds further afield as the land can no longer support livestock.
In 2015, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that there were more than 20 million people at threat from starvation. Most of the poor and hungry live in rural areas and a major part of their income comes from agriculture.
Since the Great Green Wall started less than a decade ago, significant progress has been made. For example, in Senegal 12 million trees have been planted, in Ethiopia 15 million hectares of degraded land has been restored, and in Nigeria 20,000 jobs have been created in rural areas.
Photographed by: James Withers
Millions of young people are leaving rural Senegal and other areas of the Sahel due to declining productivity of their land, meaning a severe lack of employment opportunities in rural agriculture. First they migrate to the cities, where invariably work is difficult to come by too. Many then make the perilous journey across the Sahara desert to Libya and then onwards to Europe on makeshift boats in the hope of a better life.
The Great Green Wall provides young people with renewed hope that they can make a decent living within their local community.
Photographed by: James Withers
The women of Koyly Alpha preparing the land to be sown with crops.
Food nurseries are springing up across the Great Green Wall to feed local populations and to create surpluses to sell at local markets.
Photographed by: James Withers
Scientists and botanists, including at the Royal Botanical Gardens of Kew, London, have worked closely with local communities to select many of the seeds being planted along the wall.
Communities along the Wall are growing plants that not only survive the harsh desert climate, but that have a nutritional and economic value for their lives. These drought-resistant species include the acacia, moringa and baobab, which are fast emerging as highly desirable super-foods in Western consumer markets. Companies like UK-based, Aduna, are combining business objectives with a social purpose by connecting local producers with international markets, in the process creating thousands of jobs in rural areas of Africa.
Photographed by: James Withers
In Africa, 80% of agricultural production comes from smallholder farmers, most of whom are rural women.
Photographed by: James Withers
The Fulani people of northern Senegal belong to the world’s largest nomadic group. Thousands of Fulani have been forced to migrate from their traditional homelands in the Sahel, to areas further south, because of the increasing encroachment of land degradation and desertification.
Photographed by: James Withers
As the Great Green Wall evolves, healthy livestock are once again helping local communities to build sustainable lives.
Photographed by: James Withers
Villagers gather around the newly built well, which is a vital source of water for the community and in sustaining the evolving tree nurseries.
Photographed by: James Withers
The evolution of the Great Green Wall is also having an impact on education in the village. In hard times, many children were forced to leave school early to support their families, but as basic livelihood needs are met, children are increasingly returning to school to receive an education.
Photographed by: James Withers
Mousa and granddaughter Binta - local villagers from Kolyi Alpha and stars of the VR film, ‘Growing A World Wonder ’. The film was developed by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and premiered to world leaders at the recent Global Climate Summit in Paris.
Photographed by: James Withers
Moussa: “The Great Green Wall will make our lives better again. For a long time, there were no jobs here and young people were leaving for Dakar – now people have things to do and there is hope for the future.”
Photographed by: James WithersLike what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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