Great Green Wall: Ambitious plan gets underway to plant trees in Sahel

It is hoped the line of vegetation will help the region’s people plant more crops and provide a secure source of food, improved health and thousands of new jobs.

An ambitious plan has got underway to plant a band of trees across the Sahel region of Africa, to hold back desertification and combat climate change, thanks to the support of the United Nations.

Planting has begun in Burkina Faso on what is known as the Great Green Wall.

It is hoped the line of vegetation will help the region’s people plant more crops and provide a secure source of food, improved health and thousands of new jobs.

It could also help to break a cycle of migration which may force up to 85 million people to leave their homes by 2050.

Climate change in the impoverished Sahel is already happening one and a half times faster than the global average, and the region is experiencing droughts every two years, rather than the typical 10-year cycle.

But UN now agencies like the UN Development Programme are stepping up the humanitarian and development response.