The Great Green Wall
Emi Boren
Making a desert fertile again. This is not a political slogan, but rather the dream of many environmental activists. Climate change has become one of the most important and urgent issues in today’s world due to the catastrophic consequences it continues to have. There are many examples of movements, led by commonpeople, to solve issues that have arisen as a result of climate change. In this article I’m going to talk about a specific case: The Great Green Wall.
The Great Green Wall is an African-led movement with the epic ambition of growing a 5,000-mile natural wonder across Africa. The project is so widespread that it reaches 20 countries. This movement was established in the 1980’s due to the consequences the region suffered as a result of a huge desertification. Desertification is the persistent degradation of dryland ecosystems by climatic variations and human activities. In other words, when fertile land becomes a dessert.
This phenomenon uprooted many people’s lives. One example is poverty- the lack of rain led to the disappearance of livestock and the destruction of cereal crops. Since there were no possible crops or cattle, people weren’t able to sell anything. Consequently, this also led to the issue of hunger. It is definitely not the same to live in a wide green space as to live in the desert, so, many people had to migrate. We can certify this by reading these alarming statistics taken from the official great green wall website:
“46% of African land is degraded, jeopardizing the livelihoods of nearly two-thirds of the Continent’s population.
20 million people in the Horn of Africa in 2017 declared on the verge of starvation following severe drought and food crises
Millions are expected to migrate from degraded parts of Africa in the next two decades
100 million population of the Sahel is expected to grow to 340 million by 2050
200 million of the 375 million young people entering the job market over the next 15 years will be living in rural areas.”
By 2030, the Wall aims to restore 100 million hectares of currently degraded land, sequester 250 million tonnes of CO2, and create 10 million jobs in rural areas. So far, the results have been encouraging: 28 million hectares of degraded land have been restored; 12 million drought resistant trees have been planted, and 500.000 tonnes of grain per year were delivered to 2.5 million people.
The Great Green wall’s spirit not only applies to the Sahel, but also to humanity. This project represents hope and shows the fruits of teamwork. This movement proves that together we can build a better world for future generations. Climate change is something that we can battle- if we do so together.
