Zooming out from the city, let’s look at the Great Green Wall (GGW). A pan-African initiative launched almost 20 years ago to combat desertification and promote socioeconomic development, it stretches from Senegal and Mauritania in the West through the Sahel to Eritrea and Ethiopia in the East. The project set ambitious targets: regenerating 100 million hectares, capturing 250 million tons of carbon, and creating 10 million green jobs by 2030 – a fast-approaching deadline! Partial progress has been achieved, despite challenges with governance and funding gaps, particularly in the most politically unstable – and vulnerable – regions. Although the GGW is implemented by thousands of ordinary people, some criticize it for being reduced to a tree-planting effort lacking a more holistic and participatory approach. Localized contexts would be crucial to secure the long-term success of this diverse, pan-continental initiative.

Identifying specific ‘GGW good practices’ has been challenging (at least for me!), but digging a bit one can infer that several of its reforestation efforts that embraced localization tasted success. In Niger, the ANLC – an anti-corruption association – improved oversight of the GGW initiative through citizen participation units and municipal climate observatories. These units engage diverse groups—such as youth and women’s organizations—in monitoring climate projects and reporting to observatories of local officials and citizen representatives, which issue recommendations to enhance alignment with community needs. In the Maradi region, for example, prioritizing pastoralism over agriculture successfully supported local livelihoods. Also in Niger, in the urban commune of Kollo, community-based restoration led by the FAO in partnership with the local population transformed degraded landscapes. Residents learned techniques like creating soil half-moons to retain water and planting trees such as baobabs, gum trees, and jujubes. Since 2018, over 213 hectares have been restored, engaging 1,500 community members and generating USD 66,000 in income. The benefits of the restored land, arising from resources like food, fodder, timber, and increased wildlife, are shared equitably among the town hall, site maintenance, the management committee, and the community. This transparency has fostered participation, boosted incomes, and ensured sustainability through training for long-term maintenance.

While the Great Green Wall goals’ complete realization remains uncertain, so far it has framed both successful local initiatives like those in Niger and broader visions such as the Great Green Wall for Cities, which aims to build and maintain forests near 90 cities across Africa and Central Asia—again, by 2030 (practically tomorrow!).