🌵 Communities in Africa winning against desertification

To combat the approaching sands on their productive land, the communities in the African country are setting up a sand block by planting trees to halt the advancing sand.

Known as the “Great Green Wall”(GGW), it is hoped that the wall will slow down the desertification process and save the lives of people across the Sahel region. Africa News reported that the GGW project started in 2007 with the ambition to erect a green wall across the vast Sahel region affected by lack of rain.

Salem, a local resident in Chinguetti, told Africa News that people in the region need mechanical ways to harness water for irrigation and other purposes.

"Since 2018, rain has become very rare, and since then, people have been using pumps in palm groves. It is through this method that we were able to protect them. People need to be helped with pumps during times of drought. With the help of these solar pumps, we were able to make water available to everyone and meet the water needs" said Salem told Africa News.

Salem revealed to Africa News that local farmers have come up with several techniques and solutions to overcome the challenges.

"What we are doing here is a way to protect the palm groves from the effects of the wind. We surround the palm tree with a small hole, and then fill it with water, while trying to protect it with blankets. It is with this method that I can make the palm trees live" Salem told Africa News.

Africa News highlighted that progress for the project is currently at four percent.

"The program of the great green wall, what needs to be understood is that it's an integrated rural development program that combines both the objectives of preserving the environment, and the objectives of setting up rural development poles, so as to be able to improve the living conditions of rural populations and especially the most vulnerable populations", Mauritania Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development said to Africa News.

The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition in Africa between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savannah to the south. It covers countries that include Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, The Gambia, Guinea Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Senegal.

Fighting the adverse effects of climate change is one of Africa’s major goals and is in line with Agenda 2063.

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Warp NewsKhumbu Muleya