EARTH & US: Africa’s “Great Green Wall” Food Forest; Barichara’s Water
Can you imagine a simple permaculture solution that has the power to restore semi-desert landscapes into thriving food-forests? To stop the advance of the Sahara desert and feed 500,000 people? That is not a fantasy, it is a current reality. I believe it is the most important work of our time, and holds a solution to ending hunger…on the same level as the restoration of the Loess Plateau in China.
UN World Food Program creating the Green Wall
The Sahel, located in below the Sahara desert, is an arid landscape where hot dry winds blow from the desert and the earth is often parched. Predictions were that the desert would inevitably move south. Sahel’s Lake Chad has shrunk 90% since the 1960s. However, thanks to the UN World Food Program, ten years ago local Nigerian people were trained, given equipment, fed, and paid to begin fixing the underlying problem: the need to hold water in the soil in a place where there are 9 dry months and during the 3 wet months, most rain rushed off. The solution?
Using hand tools only, people dug “half-moons” (or “earth smiles”) on contour, a few feet deep to hold the water; they spread grass seed and planted hardy trees. In the first project in Nigeria, 5 square miles, 20 tons of grass seed and 100,000 trees were planted. 8 years later, the trees provide shade, hold soil, the grass and shade nourish livestock, the vegetation cuts the drying winds, and birds come bringing various native plant seeds. People are able to cultivate crops once again, year-round.
There are now 529 Great Green Wall sites; the water table has risen, and water can be pumped from aquifers. Half a million people are now fed, children no longer malnourished; and even during the dry season it’s possible to harvest.
300,000 hectares have been restored, with positive ripple effects out to another 600,000 hectares. “The scale of the solution matches the scale of the problem,” says Andrew Millison, a permaculture teacher who visited the site. “It’s the Great Green Wall against not only the desert, but against hunger, too.”
Watch this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LCTVO_Y5Rs
Ambitious restoration goals
The goals of the $33 billion Great Green Wall program, which began in 2007 and involves 20 countries, are to stop the advance of the Sahara desert and re-green the Sahel from Senegal to Djibouti. By restoring 100 million hectares, the program aims to sequester 250 million tons of carbon through reforestation, and to create 10 million environmental jobs by 2030.
In Senegal, circular community gardens are planted with fast-growing trees on the outer perimeter to provide shade and a barrier against hot winds. Inside the circles, a diversity of fruit trees and other crops are planted. In just one year, 24 such gardens were already flourishing.
Although only 18 million hectares out of 100 million across Africa have been restored to date, and funding is stalled ($14.3 billion was promised but only a fraction delivered), the Mosaic projects started by Tree Aid are continuing to flourish.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg042N7kKaM (A Good News video).
8,000 Food Forests in Senegal
In a second video with Millison, we see how Senegal now has 8,000 family-owned multi-layer food forests, each on just ¼ of an acre, contributing to the Great Green Wall. All the financial needs of a family are met, as they grow papaya and mango trees, building materials, firewood, animal fodder, and up to 18 different crops in a 4-year program started by Trees for the Future in 2015. In year 1, families plant a protective living fence of trees which are well pruned, cut for firewood, etc. In year 2, diverse species including more trees are added. In years 3 & 4, composting, grafting, and pruning are emphasized.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LCTVO_Y5Rs (Planet Wild video)
Update — water governance in Barichara
It’s clear that government corruption has played a big role in failing to resolve the water scarcity problem, as the mayors and Councils for years have chosen high-ticket projects that promised solutions, but instead lined pockets and then were pronounced a failure, when they weren’t even fully funded. For example, a well was supposed to have been dug to provide more water, but after 4 years and 1,426 million pesos, no water was produced.
Now, expensive studies (1,400 million pesos/$350,000 US) are being called for to determine the feasibility of pumping water from San Gil to Barichara (which would require installing 24 kilometers of tubes underground, plus electric pumps). A much more environmentally friendly and less expensive option, recommended by a German engineer, is to raise by 1 meter the height of the dam that holds the drinking water supply for several towns. (I heard that this has not been done because it would interfere with a neighbor’s cows being able to access the water.)
Contracts for more buildings are given out by the Planning department without a thought about water supply. Acuascoop, which lacks a potable water treatment plant, is eligible for state and national funds to build one, but the manager doesn’t apply for the funds.
Community initiatives
The Tables for Water, which formed in November after the big gathering (Cabildo) where several water groups presented their recommendations, are advocating for the capture of rainwater in each of the farm districts known as veredas. Sergio, who has been doing a lot of water research, showed the Environment Table how intermittent streams fill up with water during rain events, and with a Google Earth map focal points of heavy precipitation can be spotted; such points would be ideal locations for ponds capturing rainwater. But politicians don’t like the idea.
At the request of the Water Tables, an enterprise which competently manages the water in Bucaramanga (said to have the best drinking water in Colombia) has been invited to take the place of the incompetent and corrupt agency which was responsible for many past boondoggles. This looks promising.
Also, there is an EOT (Territorial Organizational Scheme) that’s at least 11 years out of date; it’s supposed to be updated every 10 years and the last one was in 2003! The EOT requires consultations with the public, both urban and rural, including surveys to gather feedback. It calls for community-based water management, sustainable practices, environmental impact assessments; training of local leaders and community members in sustainable practices; involvement of a university for research and development; monitoring and evaluation of progress. This community-involvement mandate is coming at a good time!