As part of its support to member countries and institutions for the implementation of the Great Green Wall (GGW), FAO’s Action Against Desertification (AAD) convenes an advanced training on Collect Earth and biophysical data collections in the GGW and the Sahel. More than 30 experts from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal met on 23-27 September 2024 in Bamako, to advance the review and assessment of over 78,000 sample plots, contributing to FAO's continued efforts to monitor land restoration and land use change in Africa and in the GGW. Previous biophysical data collected in 2019 has enabled the production of reports on the environment, agriculture and land use in Africa (Africa Open DEAL) and in particular for the Sahel and the Great Green Wall’s areas of interest, which serves as a panoramic baseline of land use and land use change. These data sets are being used by several countries to report on their national and international commitments, e.g. NDCs, UNCCD, AFR100, SDGs, CBD, UNFCCC, etc.

On their request and with the EU financial support through the K4GGWA project, the review of these baseline sample plots is underway in order to evaluate changes that occurred in the last 5 years. In collaboration with the Panafrican Agency for the Great Green Wall (PA-GGW), the regional institution coordinating and facilitating the implementation of the GGW initiative, the regional workshop was attended by over 30 GIS and M&E experts coming from GGW agencies and ministries of Environment, Agriculture, water resources, livestock, Sustainable development and research institutions, of six Sahel countries. The training sessions and plots allocations started online before the gathering and intensified during the Mapathon week. Participants continue data collections in their respective countries after the Mapathon, up until the completion of all interpretations. FAO is then planning the next phase for the experts to focus on data analyses and reporting.  

Contributing to support the implementation of the GGW since 2014, FAO has mainly focused its actions on technical support for large-scale restoration and interventions to improve the livelihoods of rural communities in the field and on resources mobilization and institutional support to increase and accelerate the achievement of its objectives by 2030. As a result, a number of land restoration projects and activities have been set up in the Sahel and beyond. Mindful of this acceleration in the implementation of the GGW and the need for a harmonised and efficient GGW monitoring and evaluation reporting system, the FAO and PA-GGW are working on the multi-country SURAGGWA project for Green Climate Fund (GCF) funding and are proposing the organisation of an orientation on data collection and reporting on the GGW, also as part of the EU funding on “Knowledge for Action in the implementation of the GGW” project (K4GGWA).

The K4GGWA project aims to improve sustainable land management and livelihoods in support of the GGW and to accelerate the achievement of its objectives. This action focuses primarily on the eleven (11) member countries of the PA-GGW/Sahel and is led by FAO and CIFOR-ICRAF. The project works with PA-GGW member countries to catalyse access to and use of locally relevant technologies and knowledge for land restoration within the GGW areas of interest, building on the successes and lessons learned from recent land restoration initiatives.