The United Nations and its partners have announced a $78 million programme to restore more than 270,000 hectares of degraded land and improve the livelihoods of about five million people across nine Sahelian countries.
Funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the programme is designed to address land degradation, drought and increasing climate pressures affecting communities across the Sahel.
The initiative will be implemented in Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal, with women expected to account for more than half of the programme’s beneficiaries.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said the GEF grant would provide additional support for the Great Green Wall Initiative, taking total pooled resources for the programme to more than $500 million when partner co-financing is included.
UNEP will implement eight of the programme’s 10 projects and coordinate their delivery across the participating countries, while the West African Development Bank (BOAD) will implement the remaining two.
The investment is expected to support the restoration of degraded landscapes while creating economic opportunities for communities whose livelihoods have come under increasing pressure from drought, desertification and climate change.
The Great Green Wall is an African environmental initiative focused on restoring degraded land across the Sahel, improving food security and strengthening communities’ resilience to climate-related challenges.
Nigeria’s participation is significant as the country is part of the continental Great Green Wall Initiative, which targets the restoration of degraded areas across the northern belt.
The new funding is expected to strengthen land restoration activities and support communities facing environmental and livelihood challenges across the region.
The programme also seeks to link environmental restoration with improved livelihoods, recognising the need for communities to benefit economically from efforts to combat desertification and climate change.
