The fifth meeting of the global steering committee of the “Forest and Landscape Restoration and Sustainable Land Management in the Sahel” project, funded by the French Facility for Global Environment, took place in an hybrid format on 21 February 2023. The objective of the meeting was to review the status of national, regional and global workplans, and to confirm the project’s activities until December 2023. The steering committee members also stressed the need to adopt a global vision with an integrated approach to support the resilience and sustainability of ecosystems, communities and government services.

Approved in June 2017 with a backing of EUR 1.8 million, the Sahel project is implemented in Burkina Faso and the Niger by the Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism (FLRM) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with national and regional institutions. Its purpose is to contribute to forest and landscape restoration (FLR) and sustainable land management (SLM) in each country, to provide sustainable goods and services.

Project achievements in Burkina Faso in 2022 focused on technical support to municipal agents and decentralized services for agriculture, livestock and the environment. Mayors and special delegation presidents shared their support for the establishment of service counters in municipalities. Producers received onsite training, and the capacities of local stakeholders for FLR and SLM were strengthened. Following the acquisition of appropriate equipment, project beneficiaries constructed half-moons, stone cordons and manure pits. Moreover, the establishment of conservation areas is ongoing. However, the project also faced several social and political challenges when two coups were staged, municipal councils were dissolved, and field activities were forced to stop because of the persistent presence of unidentified armed men in the villages.

Project achievements in the Niger in 2022 centred on the building of more than 200 hectares (ha) of half-moons on degraded lands in partner communes. Assisted natural regeneration (ANR) practices were disseminated over 450 ha with the support of ten pilot farmer leaders in each commune, who will continue to champion agroforestry and ANR in their respective communities. Investments in FLR and SLM were also incorporated into the communal development plans. Banco stoves at the communal level were scaled up with 15 trained women's groups and 75 Indigenous women facilitators in three communes. The number of improved stoves made by the municipality in 2022 is as follows: Illela, 176 stoves; Kollo, 1 076 stoves; and Soucoucoutane, 55 stoves.

One key activity in both countries during 2022 was the implementation of income-generating activities (IGAs). These included producing, processing and marketing agricultural products, livestock, and timber and non-timber forest products related to restoration activities. The intended beneficiaries were inhabitants of the villages in the project area, such as households and organizations, with a focus on women and young people. The project selected 18 cooperatives in Burkina Faso and 9 in the Niger for a total amount of USD 70 000 per country. Priority IGAs included producing moringa, market gardening, cattle fattening and biological land recovery.

Sabine Ouedraogo-Compaore, President of the Dakopa cooperative in Bani, Burkina Faso, was one of the IGA beneficiaries. With the processing of néré seeds into soumbala as a selected activity, she participated in two training sessions and disseminated her knowledge to empower the 18 women members of the cooperative. The Dakopa cooperative received XOF 4.5 million (USD 7 000) to build a shop and buy equipment. Its contribution to the IGA was to purchase inputs (néré seeds). The cooperative intends to produce and process the seeds onsite to address security problems and the related lack of transport infrastructure.

Nelly Bourlion (FAO)