The 55-member African Union and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) now refer to the project as “Africa’s flagship initiative to combat land degradation, desertification and drought.” It was originally designed in 2007 to be a 15 km wide band of trees and vegetation. While significant progress has been made in growing this expanse of trees, especially in countries like Ethiopia (which has restored over 15 million hectares of degraded land), and in Senegal (which has already grown 12 million trees), these trees would remain unprotected in uninhabited areas. Green tide – The Great Green Wall was conceived as a 7,700-kilometer tree belt stretching the length of the Sahara Desert. The Great Green Wall is an African-led movement with an epic ambition to grow an 8,000km natural wonder of the world across the entire width of Africa. Much has changed since 2007, when the African Union launched the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative (GGWSSI) as a bulwark against the encroaching desert.. The … Once complete, the Great Green Wall of Africa will stretch 8000 km from Senegal to Djibouti, east-west across the entire continent of Africa, making it the largest living structure on the planet. However, some experts are trying to change perceptions of the wall so that it becomes a metaphor for a wide-ranging project dedicated to stemming poverty and improving sustainability in the area. AFRICA – The Great Green Wall is an initiative spanning across Africa, from Dakar to Djibouti, that aims to diminish poverty and soil degradation in the Sahel-Saharan region through green, naturally-regenerating practices, such as planting native trees and shrubs or implementing more sustainable farming techniques. Community leaders advocated for a Great Green Wall. Eleven countries are planting a wall of trees from east to west across Africa, just under the southern edge of the Sahara desert. Develop Africa; Uncategorized; Africa’s Great Green Wall: A work in progress. Against all odds, The Great Green Wall is already working in Ethiopia, Sudan and Senegal, where the inhabitants of the region are embracing its benefits by working in the field and reducing the migration due to the ascertainable progress of the wall. Issues with the Great Green Wall. Around 15% of the Wall … A decade in and roughly 15% underway, the initiative is already bringing life back to Africa’s degraded landscapes at an unprecedented scale, providing food security, jobs and a reason to stay for the millions who live along its path. Africa’s Great Green Wall, or more formally The Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative, is the intriguing but misleading name of an enormously ambitious and worthwhile initiative to improve life and resilience in the drylands that surround the Sahara. Discover The Great Green Wall of Africa in Dakar, Senegal: Over 4,700 miles of trees being planted to hold back the desert. Ministers from African countries North and South of the Sahara and their development partners have agreed to accelerate progress on the Great Green Wall, Africa’s largest rural development initiative, during a High-Level conference in Dakar, Senegal.