Sahel and Desertification

The Sahel is a semi-arid transition zone stretching 5,400 km across Africa from Senegal to Sudan, between the Sahara Desert to the north and the tropical savanna to the south. It is one of the most climate-vulnerable regions on Earth — experiencing a severe drought (1968-1985) that killed 100,000+ people and desertified vast areas, and facing ongoing land degradation, conflict (fueled partly by resource scarcity), and food insecurity affecting 80 million people. The Great Green Wall initiative (African Union, 2007) aims to restore a mosaic of vegetation (trees, grassland, crops) 8,000 km long and 15 km wide across Africa — regreening degraded land, sequestering carbon, providing food security, and reducing climate-driven migration. Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) in Niger has already restored 5 million hectares — transforming barren land back into productive agroforestry. The Sahel demonstrates both humanity's environmental fragility and its capacity for environmental restoration.