FAO is training local actors in large-scale restoration techniques and mechanized land preparation in support of field operations under the Great Green Wall (GGW) initiative to restore drylands and degraded lands in Africa. Land restoration offers hope for improving livelihoods of rural communities and promises to reverse biodiversity degradation and restore habitats through efforts such as replenishing vegetation cover of degraded lands and improving grasslands and landscapes. In recent years, the movement for ecosystem restoration has gained momentum in response to the challenge of climate change adaptation and mitigation, with the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) giving an impetus to global efforts.

In 2020, FAO’s Action Against Desertification (AAD) programme, a key partner in support of the implementation of the Great Green Wall, contributed to the replacement and mechanization of the taxing manual work on dry and degraded agro-sylvo-pastoral lands at scale in 10 countries in the Sahel through the acquisition of critical equipment composed of tractors and Delfino ploughs with EU financial support. The ploughs are utilized to mimic the construction of ancestral planting pits known as Zai, now widely accepted as an effective way to reduce soil erosion by breaking up the surface crust to improve rainwater retention and infiltration. The Delfino plough not only allows a 10-fold more efficient and affordable means at scale for rainwater harvesting compared to manual work, but it also allows to dig much deeper into the soil for better moisture retention, improving management of degraded lands and grain yields. It is increasingly being acknowledged as the only realistic option to bring restoration interventions quickly at larger scales.

The large-scale mechanised land preparation techniques are a part of FAO’s wider land restoration approach implemented in northern Nigeria and West Africa under the successful AAD contributions. It consists of community-led planning and implementation process for the restoration and protection of land and other natural resources, as well as monitoring of lands invested in through innovative techniques. The approach also supports livelihoods through non-timber forest products (NTFP) value chain development.

In Nigeria, FAO current support to the Federal Ministry of Environment, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Federal Ministry of Water resources is being channelled through the Agro-Climatic Resilience in the Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project.The Technical Assistance makes optimum use of the large accumulation of relevant experience and know-how developed under the AAD programme on technical aspects of land/landscape restoration, innovative methodologies for planning, monitoring, impact evaluation and communications, which ensure efficient implementation of restoration interventions. ACReSAL engaged the FAO to provide the required expertise in upscaling community-led landscape restoration of degraded lands across 20 Northern States, including the 11 frontline States which together define the GGW area of the country. The ACReSAL project seeks to restore 350 000 hectares of degraded lands by 2028, out of which over 100 000 ha are planned for restoration this year, applying mostly mechanized land preparation, using tractors and ploughs, including the Delfino plough in selected communities, while promoting hybrid agro-forestry/agro-ecology models on communal lands.

Under this framework, trainings were organized this month in Kano and Jigawa to teach the State operators on the use of the Delfino plough, and large-scale land preparation to help the States initiate the process of land restoration interventions before the sowing and planting of selected resilient native species. The participation of 40 field level officers from the 11 selected States of the project, Adamawa (GGW), Bauchi (GGW/AAD), Borno (GGW), Gombe (GGW), Jigawa (GGW/AAD), Kano (GGW), Katsina (GGW), Kebbi (GGW), Sokoto (GGW/AAD), Yobe (GGW) and Zamfara (GGW), aligns with the agreed deliverables of the Technical Assistance. 

FAO AAD continues its support to other GGW countries throughout the year by operationalizing all Delfino ploughs in cooperation with rural communities in Senegal, Burkina Faso and Niger. An estimated 5 000 ha of land will be ploughed and planted/sown with seeds and seedlings of the right native species in the right places for ecosystem biodiversity restoration.