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What is the Great Green Wall?
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Stretching 8,000 kilometers across Africa, the Great Green Wall is one of the most ambitious environmental projects in history. First envisioned as a barrier of trees to stop the Sahara Desert from creeping south, it has evolved into a project to restore degraded land, support communities, and build climate resilience across 11 countries in the Sahel. Launched by the African Union in 2007, the initiative aims to bring 100 million hectares of dry, barren land back to life by 2030, absorb 250 million tons of carbon, and create 10 million jobs in some of the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions.
Progress has been made - over 20 million hectares have already been restored, and communities in countries like Senegal, Ethiopia, and Niger are seeing the benefits. But the challenge is immense.
Funding shortfalls, political instability, and extreme weather slow down efforts, and some scientists argue that reforestation alone won’t be enough to stop desertification. Even so, momentum is growing, with increased investment, new restoration techniques, and global recognition of the project’s potential to become the largest living structure on Earth - three times the size of the Great Barrier Reef.
This article explores the Great Green Wall’s bold vision, what’s working, what isn’t, and whether this massive undertaking can truly reshape the future of the Sahel.
What is the Great Green Wall?
The idea of building a Great Green Wall dates back to the 1970s, when scientists and policymakers first proposed planting a vast belt of trees to stop the Sahara Desert from spreading southward into the Sahel.
The concept gained traction over the following decades, and in 2007, the African Union officially launched the initiative as a continental-scale solution to desertification, land degradation, and climate change. While early plans envisioned a 15-kilometer-wide strip of trees running 8,000 kilometers across Africa, the project has evolved into a broader effort focused on ecosystem restoration, sustainable agriculture, and community-driven land management.
“ The Great Green Wall is an effort to revive some of the most fragile ecosystems on the planet while improving food security, water availability, and economic opportunities for millions of people. The project spans 11 countries in the Sahel region, a semi-arid belt south of the Sahara that is home to over 100 million people who depend on the land for their survival. ”
The initiative’s official targets include:
- Restoring 100 million hectares of degraded land by 2030
- Sequestering 250 million tons of carbon dioxide, helping to mitigate global climate change
- Creating 10 million sustainable jobs in farming, forestry, and conservation
Unlike conventional reforestation projects, the Great Green Wall incorporates traditional land management techniques with modern conservation science. Farmers and local communities are using agroforestry, planting drought-resistant native species, and implementing water conservation strategies such as zai pits and stone bunds to improve soil fertility and crop yields. The initiative has also attracted global support, with funding commitments from organisations like the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the World Bank, and the European Union.
The vision is ambitious: an ecological corridor that revives degraded land, strengthens rural economies, and turns one of the world’s most vulnerable regions into a model for sustainable development. But can it succeed?
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Why was the Great Green Wall created?
The Great Green Wall was created out of necessity. For decades, the Sahara Desert has been expanding southward, consuming farmland and forcing millions of people in the Sahel region to face worsening food and water shortages.
“ The Sahel - the stretch of semi-arid land that lies between the Sahara and the more fertile savannas - is one of the most vulnerable regions on Earth to climate change and desertification. With temperatures rising 1.5 times faster than the global average, unpredictable rainfall, and recurring droughts, land that once supported communities is turning to dust. ”
Desertification and climate change
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) estimates that 80% of the Sahel’s farmland is degraded. This has grave consequences for the more than 100 million people who rely on the land for survival. The major drivers of land degradation include:
- Climate change: Higher temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns lead to longer droughts and reduced soil fertility.
- Deforestation: Cutting down trees for firewood and agriculture has left vast areas exposed to wind and water erosion.
- Overgrazing and poor land management: Livestock grazing beyond the land’s capacity has stripped vegetation, worsening soil degradation.
These environmental stresses have fueled a humanitarian crisis. As farmland becomes unusable, millions of people are being displaced, leading to increased migration and tensions over scarce resources.
The World Bank reports that up to 86 million people could be forced to leave Sub-Saharan Africa by 2050 if desertification continues unchecked. Food insecurity has also become a chronic issue, with people in the region facing increasing levels of hunger.
Reversing degradation through land restoration
The Great Green Wall was designed as a long-term solution to reverse desertification and restore productivity to the land. Instead of simply planting trees, the initiative promotes a variety of restoration techniques tailored to each country’s needs. These include:
- Agroforestry: Combining tree planting with crops to improve soil health and boost food production.
- Regenerative farming: Using sustainable land management practices to rebuild soil fertility.
- Water conservation strategies: Techniques like zai pits (a traditional method of capturing rainwater in small holes dug into the soil) and stone bunds to prevent water runoff.
“ Rather than a single, continuous line of trees, the Great Green Wall is a network of restored ecosystems, sustainable farms, and climate-resilient communities. The ultimate goal is to create an environment where communities and nature can thrive, reducing food insecurity, preventing mass displacement, and giving millions of people a reason to stay in their home regions rather than migrate. ”
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Progress so far
More than 17 years after its launch, the Great Green Wall has made noticeable progress, but it remains far from achieving its ambitious goals. Initially set to restore 100 million hectares of land by 2030, only around 20 million hectares have been rehabilitated so far. This means that just 20% of the target has been reached, raising concerns about whether the initiative can scale up quickly enough to meet its deadline. Despite this, the progress made so far has already led to measurable improvements in land productivity, food security, and economic opportunities in some of Africa’s most climate-vulnerable regions.
Restoring land and revitalising ecosystems
Some of the most notable successes of the Great Green Wall can be seen in individual countries that have committed resources to large-scale restoration efforts:
- Senegal has planted over 18 million drought-resistant trees and restored more than 254,000 hectares of degraded land. The introduction of agroforestry has improved soil fertility and crop yields, helping local farmers increase their productivity despite erratic rainfall patterns.
- Ethiopia planted over 350 million trees in one single day. Tree planting, terracing, and sustainable soil management techniques are improving soil quality with farmers in some regions reporting that crop yields have doubled since restoration efforts began.
- Niger has adopted farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR), a technique that helps regrow native vegetation naturally. As a result, more than 200 million trees have been restored across farmlands, leading to higher grain production and greater food security for local communities.
These examples show that land degradation is not irreversible. With the right techniques, even barren landscapes can be brought back to life. However, the pace of restoration remains uneven, with some countries making much more progress than others.
Economic impact
Beyond its environmental benefits, the Great Green Wall has also begun to deliver economic opportunities for communities across the Sahel. According to the African Union, the initiative has generated more than 350,000 jobs in sustainable agriculture, forestry, and land management.
- Agroforestry initiatives have allowed farmers to cultivate trees alongside crops, providing additional income from gum arabic, moringa, and baobab fruit production.
- Women-led cooperatives have expanded in several regions, particularly in Mali, Chad, and Burkina Faso, where women are producing and selling shea butter, moringa powder, and acacia resin as part of sustainable business models.
- Youth employment programs have emerged, training the next generation in climate-smart agriculture and conservation.
These efforts have provided new sources of income for thousands of families, reducing rural poverty and forced migration. However, the scale of economic transformation is still small compared to the 100 million people living in the Sahel, many of whom continue to face extreme poverty and food insecurity.
International support
The Great Green Wall has attracted increasing global attention and financial backing. In 2021, the Great Green Wall Accelerator was launched to mobilise $19 billion from organisations such as the World Bank, European Union, and United Nations. This funding was meant to fast-track restoration efforts, improve monitoring systems, and strengthen community-led initiatives.
By 2024, additional commitments from France, the African Development Bank, and private sector investors helped push total pledged funding to over $33 billion. However, a major challenge remains - only a fraction of these funds have actually been disbursed to on-the-ground projects, with delays linked to bureaucracy, political instability, and logistical difficulties in reaching remote areas.
While progress is undeniable, the next five years will be crucial. Without faster implementation, stronger political commitment, and more effective funding mechanisms, the Great Green Wall risks falling short of its 2030 targets.
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Barriers to success
While millions of hectares have been restored, the overall pace of progress remains too slow, and funding shortfalls, climate pressures, and political instability continue to stall large-scale implementation. If the project is to succeed, these challenges must be addressed with stronger governance, faster funding disbursement, and a more adaptive approach to land restoration.
1. Funding gaps and slow disbursement
Although billions of dollars have been pledged, much of it remains tied up in bureaucratic processes. According to the Great Green Wall Accelerator, launched in 2021 to speed up financing, more than $33 billion has been committed, but only a fraction has been released to projects on the ground. Without a faster flow of funds, many restoration projects risk stalling before they reach full implementation.
One of the biggest issues is that funding often comes with complex conditions. Many rural communities and local governments lack the administrative capacity to meet donor requirements, leading to delays in receiving financial support. Additionally, large-scale investment tends to favor tree-planting initiatives rather than more holistic approaches, such as sustainable agriculture and water conservation, which often result in better long-term results.
2. Political instability and conflict
Several of the 11 Sahelian countries involved in the Great Green Wall face ongoing conflict, political instability, and weak governance, which make large-scale environmental initiatives difficult to manage. Since 2020, multiple military coups have occurred in Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Niger, all key participants in the project. These political upheavals have diverted government attention away from climate and environmental policies, delaying restoration efforts.
What’s more is that violence from armed insurgencies - particularly in regions bordering Mali, Niger, and Nigeria - has made it unsafe for restoration teams and local communities to carry out tree planting and land rehabilitation. The International Crisis Group has noted that in some areas, insecurity has led to the abandonment of farmland, further exacerbating desertification and food shortages.
3. The challenge of climate extremes
The Sahel is one of the hottest and driest regions on Earth, and climate change is making conditions even more extreme. Temperatures in the Sahel have risen 1.5 times faster than the global average, leading to longer droughts and shorter rainy seasons. These changing conditions threaten the survival of newly planted trees and crops, making large-scale land restoration even more difficult.
A major criticism of the original Great Green Wall concept was that simply planting trees in arid environments would not be enough. Studies have shown that in some areas, tree survival rates are as low as 20% without additional interventions like irrigation, soil enrichment, and erosion control. Some scientists argue that a more agroecological approach, focused on regenerating native vegetation rather than planting monocultures of trees, would be more effective in the long run.
4. A lack of consistent monitoring
Another challenge has been the difficulty of tracking progress across such a vast region. While some governments have reported significant land restoration achievements, independent satellite monitoring efforts have found that in some cases, progress may have been overstated or difficult to verify. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has called for better data collection and independent assessments to ensure that reported restoration figures reflect actual changes on the ground.
Inconsistent monitoring also makes it harder to assess which restoration techniques are working best. Some countries have focused on tree planting, while others have prioritised soil regeneration, water conservation, or farmer-led land management. Without clearer comparisons, it remains difficult to determine which strategies are yielding the most sustainable results.
| Challenge | Summary of Key Issues | Impact on the Great Green Wall |
|---|---|---|
| Funding gaps and slow disbursement | Billions in funding have been pledged, but bureaucratic delays and complex conditions prevent money from reaching local projects. Large-scale investment favors tree planting over holistic land restoration. | Slows implementation, risks project stalling, and limits support for sustainable agriculture and water conservation. |
| Political instability and conflict | Military coups and armed insurgencies in several Sahel countries have diverted government attention from environmental policies. Some areas have become unsafe for restoration work. | Interrupts land rehabilitation efforts, displaces farming communities, and worsens food shortages due to abandoned farmland. |
| The challenge of climate extremes | Rising temperatures and unpredictable rainfall threaten tree survival. Studies show that without additional interventions like irrigation and soil enrichment, many trees do not survive. | Calls for a shift towards more resilient restoration techniques beyond tree planting, such as regenerating native vegetation and improving water retention. |
| A lack of consistent monitoring | Reports on restored land often lack independent verification. Some governments overstate progress, and different regions use varied approaches with no clear comparisons. | Makes it difficult to measure success, identify the best restoration methods, and ensure funding is directed to the most effective projects. |
Addressing these challenges
While these obstacles are significant, they are not impossible to overcome. A number of policy changes and new strategies could help accelerate the success of the Great Green Wall:
- Faster and more flexible funding mechanisms to ensure money reaches communities and restoration projects without bureaucratic delays.
- Greater investment in local-led solutions, particularly sustainable farming, agroforestry, and regenerative land practices, rather than just tree planting.
- Stronger security measures and conflict resolution efforts to allow restoration activities to continue in politically unstable regions.
- More rigorous monitoring and independent verification to ensure that progress reports accurately reflect on-the-ground realities.
The Great Green Wall is still a work in progress, and the coming years will determine whether it can overcome these barriers or fall short of its original vision.
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The future of the Great Green Wall: Can it deliver?
With 2030 fast approaching, the Great Green Wall is at a turning point. While 20 million hectares of land have been restored, that’s still only 20% of the original target. To meet its goal of 100 million hectares, the pace of restoration needs to increase fivefold in the next five years. The challenge is immense, but momentum is growing.
What needs to change?
For the project to succeed, several key issues must be addressed:
- Faster funding disbursement: While $33 billion has been pledged, much of it is tied up in bureaucracy. Direct investment in community-led projects could ensure a quicker impact.
- Greater political stability: Many countries involved have faced conflict and government instability, delaying restoration work. Stronger national policies are needed to keep progress on track.
- Better tracking and accountability: Some early reports overstated progress, and satellite monitoring has since revealed that some restored land has deteriorated. Improved data collection and long-term management are critical.
The bigger picture
If successful, it could become a blueprint for other regions battling desertification. Countries like China and India are already studying its approach, and the United Nations has recognised it as a key project in global ecosystem restoration efforts.
Can it still succeed?
The Great Green Wall may not reach its full target by 2030, but that doesn’t mean it has failed. It has already helped millions of people adapt to climate change, restored millions of hectares of land, and created hundreds of thousands of jobs.
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How Greenly can help your company
At Greenly, we understand that businesses also have a role to play in supporting the preservation of the environment. This is why we’ve developed a carbon management solution to help businesses progress towards their sustainability targets. By providing accurate emissions tracking, tailored decarbonisation strategies, and supply chain transparency, we enable companies to take meaningful action on climate change.
Greenly’s carbon accounting platform allows businesses to:
- Measure their Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, identifying the biggest sources of their carbon footprint.
- Monitor supply chain sustainability, helping businesses assess the environmental impact of raw materials, sourcing, and production.
- Identify carbon offset projects that align with credible reforestation and land conservation efforts.
- Ensure their sustainability strategies align with international standards, such as the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
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