Great Green Wall: Africa's Climate Change Solution

the sahara desert is expanding and this can be considered one of the most dreadful effects of climate change according to scientists the desert has expanded by about 10 since 1920 partly because of climate change besides the expansion of the sahara the sahel is also experiencing severe land degradation caused by poor land management practices overgrazing population growth and climate change this causes great concern to african states and in this story we will learn how this issue can possibly be solved so let's open our eyes open your eyes for the next saga [Music] as the sahara expands the sahel retreats disrupting fragile ecosystems and societies to understand the implications of land degradation it is worth remembering that 80 percent of africa's economy depends on a climate-sensitive natural resource such as rain-fed subsistence agriculture the effects on the population are even more alarming without sufficient productive land to cultivate a spiraling cycle of poverty will emerge over the last few decades land degradation has increased food insecurity and hopelessness among millions of unemployed countryside youths provoking migrations and strengthening radical groups [Music] to face the challenges previously mentioned african states launched an ambitious project the great green wall the initiative is supposed to spread from senegal in the west to djibouti in the east while it was officially inaugurated in 2007 by the african union or eu africa's vision of a great green wall dates back to the 1970s when the sahel suffered from massive droughts and fertile soils become severely degraded visionary community leaders and politicians such as thomas sankara started thinking about a long-term solution and came up with the great green wall however nothing has been realized in the year since its founding only a few decades later in 2005 former nigerian president obasanjo and senegalese president wad put this project on the international agenda [Music] eventually in 2007 the initiative was officially approved by the au currently the project has been implemented in more than 20 african countries and more than 8 billion dollars have been mobilized the initiative brings together african countries and international partners under the leadership of the african union commission and pan-african agency of the great green wall the great green wall is the latest hope for people living near the southern border of sahara this african-led project aims to recover africa's degraded landscapes and transform millions of lives once finished the wall will be the largest living structure in the world an 8 000 kilometers long natural wonder that crosses the entire continent by 2030 the project is expected to restore 100 million hectares of currently degraded land absorb 250 million tons of carbon and create 10 million green jobs [Music] according to experts several restoration approaches are required one of them specifically empowers the role of farmers they are responsible for protecting and managing the natural regeneration of forests croplands and grasslands furthermore to recover severely degraded zones large-scale land preparation and enrichment planting is needed which requires high quality seeds and planting materials the international community is very supportive of this initiative for example the african development bank is committed to donate 6.5 billion dollars the world bank 5 billion dollars and european commission 2.5 billion dollars there's no difference whatsoever african population is rapidly growing 200 million countryside views will enter the job market over the next 15 years particularly the sahel is becoming a time bomb if they don't have the possibility to live on and off their land they will embark on dangerous migrations join terrorist groups or move to urban cities ignoring the plight of unemployed youth in sub-saharan africa will only lead to political instability and global insecurity it is quite clear then that the great green wall has to be created with great hope and optimism it is a genuine alternative for people increasingly looking for an escape from hopelessness and desperate poverty thank you for watching see you again for the next saga [Music]

Channel: Orbis Fabula

Views: 12,610

Keywords: Great Green Wall, Orbis Fabula, documentary, Short Documentary, Informative, Simplified, World Story, Climate, Climate Change, Climate change Solutions, New Wonder, Africa News, Sahara, Sahara Desert, Sahel Region, Maps, Hope, Educational, Orbis, Fabula, Saga, Africa

Id: vB2ohpjCYS4

Length: 5min 24sec (324 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 14 2021