Africa’s Great Green Wall: Viable return on investments, says FAO study

What is the News?

According to a study by the Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO),Africa’s Great Green Wall (GGW) Initiative is an important contribution towards combating climate change.

The study showed that for every dollar invested into the Great Green Wall (GGW) Initiative, investors can expect an average return of $1.20 with outcomes ranging between $1.10 and $4.40.

What is the Great Green Wall (GGW) Initiative?

The Great Green Wall Initiative was launched in 2007 by the African Union.

Aim: To restore 100 million hectares of degraded land, sequester 250 million tonnes of carbon and create 10 million jobs for the people in the Sahel region of Africa by 2030.

Countries: The 11 countries selected as intervention zones for the Great Green Wall are Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan.

What is the status of the Great Green Wall (GGW) initiative?

Only four million hectares of degraded land had been restored between 2007 and 2019. This is because of the lack of financial resources.

Note: According to a UN Report, GGW countries need to speed up the current pace of land restoration to an average of 8.2 million hectares every year.

Source: This post is based on the article “Africa’s Great Green Wall: Viable return on investments, says FAO study” published in Down To Earth on 30th November 2021.