Farmers across Africa have been regreening the Sahel and reversing desertification for decades. Crop yields are much higher now than they were in the '80s.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/great-green-wall-stop-desertification-not-so-much-180960171/
The Age of Humans
The “Great Green Wall” Didn’t Stop Desertification, but it Evolved Into Something That Might
The multibillion-dollar effort to plant a 4,000-mile-long wall of trees hit some snags along the way, but there’s still hope
By Jim Morrison
smithsonianmag.com
August 23, 2016
It was a simple plan to combat a complex problem. The plan: plant a Great Green Wall of trees 10 miles wide and 4,350 miles long, bisecting a dozen countries from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east. The problem: the creeping desertification across Africa.
"We moved the vision of the Great Green Wall from one that was impractical to one that was practical," says Mohamed Bakarr, the lead environmental specialist for Global Environment Facility, the organization that examines the environmental benefit of World Bank projects. "It is not necessarily a physical wall, but rather a mosaic of land use practices that ultimately will meet the expectations of a wall. It has been transformed into a metaphorical thing."
Reij, now based in Amsterdam, began working in the Sahel when the soil literally was blowing away during dust storms. After years away, Reij returned to Niger and Burkina Faso in the summer of 2004. He was stunned by what he saw, green where there had been nothing but tan, denuded land. He quickly secured funding for the first of several studies looking at farming in villages throughout Burkina Faso and Niger.
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Thanks Ken. Love reading about things like this.
Good, my dear friends, because I consider you as my friends (as well as El Cid and many others).I always enjoy reading your posts on the evolution of the ice pack and global warming. But here, as with the ice pack, you should look at the real world numbers and not the dubious media-interest verbiage.
So here are some links to serious sites, unfortunately in French, but of which I propose you some translations. We will study here the case of Niger.
Conclusion: Productive Resources
limited and high vulnerability
Two thirds of Niger's surface area is
and only 11% of the land is desert and only 11% of the
suitable for agriculture. The soils are in
the poor as a whole and deteriorate over the course of the
time, due to water and wind erosion,
human and animal pressure, the
rapid progression of desertification (75% of the
territory) and climatic aridity (89% of the
territory).
The irrigable potential is largely under
exploited. Only one third of irrigable land is
annually developed. Agriculture
Nigerien is essentially based on the
rainfed production. However, the yields are
and declining over the long term, for
the main crops.
The increase in production comes from
mainly an increase in surface areas
cultivated. This is no longer done as in the past
on agricultural reserves, but on the land
sylvo-pastoral and forestry. The strong
population growth and weakness
of modernization investments in the
agricultural sector are contributing to the acceleration of
this phenomenon.
The extension of cultivated areas and
the increase in production did not result in
a reversal of the imbalance trend
and food dependency. The
agricultural production remains structurally
lower than the national demand. The deficit is
filled by imports which represented
up to 40% of national needs. The aid
only meets 1% of the needs
cereal crops (3% in 2004/05).
https://www.oecd.org/fr/pays/niger/41642919.pdfNiger is the poorest state in Africa, located at the 188th
rank of
the HDI 20143
The company is in last position worldwide. The primary sector dominates
the country's economy, which depends to a very large extent on foreign aid to the
development. A Niger that was self-sufficient in foodstuffs and even
exporter of cereals until the end of the sixties, became strongly in deficit.
The country has nearly 20 million inhabitants in 2016, while it had 10 million
around the year 2000, and 3 million at independence (1960). With a fertility rate
of 7.6 children per woman4 - a world record - and despite a particularly high rate of
high under-five mortality (127 per 1,000 in 2015);5
) the population
is still expected to grow considerably to reach 72 million in 20506.
.
Moreover, the share of the population under 15 years of age already exceeds 50% of the population.
population7 since 2015 and this rate is therefore expected to increase further with the growth in
global demographics.
One of the major challenges for the government of Niger and its technical and
financial resources for the years to come will therefore be to be able to satisfy this new demand.
food. This is all the more so as this demand is currently already difficult to meet.
satisfied8
Approximately 6 out of 10 households can cover their food needs for only 3 months.
. Food and nutritional security (FNS) thus remains a challenge today.
important in Niger, in its four dimensions: availability, access, use and stability.
The geographical location of Nigerle is subject to severe climatic conditions that
strongly constrain its agricultural production and its ability to meet the needs of its customers.
of its population. Niger is indeed in one of the hottest regions in the world.
of the globe. In the North, 3/5ths of the country are in the Saharan zone. In terms of
hydrographic, Niger has only one permanent river: the Niger River. If
Niger's groundwater resources are quite significant10 , these are
difficult to use, thus limiting the possibility of irrigation.
Thus, not only is the range of crops available for cultivation relatively limited, but also the
regular droughts also have a direct impact on the harvesting of products.
keys. In recent years, the country has indeed experienced a food crisis (cereal deficit).
every two or three years11 , thus threatening the food security of the populations.
The silting up of river beds, erosion, invasions by predators, locusts, etc. are all factors that threaten the food security of populations.
and epidemics such as meningitis, measles or cholera, also affect safety
the country's food supply.
Beyond that, global warming at the global level is accentuating this situation.
already critical, by intensifying drought episodes (rainfall deficits) as well as by
flooding, thus reducing arable land.
https://www.alimenterre.org/system/files/2019-06/1090-notes-techniques-afd-niamey.pdfIn addition, nearly 82.6% of the population lives in rural areas and are mainly farmers from
rural subsistence farmers, who depend on rain-fed agriculture as their main source of food and income. The
continuation of extensive and unproductive practices in the agro-sylvo-pastoral sector, which is subject to strong constraints
of land use, leads to fragmentation of farms and increasing resource degradation
natural. Small farms - the average farm size is 5 ha for
about twelve (12) people - are increasingly dominant. They employ the strength of non
paid. These small farms are very fragmented due to population growth and inheritance law.
current.
Instability in neighboring countries (notably Mali, Libya and Nigeria), as well as internal conflicts in some of these countries.
regions of Niger, periodic droughts and floods, and the creation of the ECOWAS Free Movement Zone.
are all factors that determine the migratory movements that affect Niger. Migrants from
ECOWAS countries enjoy freedom of movement and enter Niger legally. Nigerien authorities
are powerless to send back migrants from ECOWAS countries who try to enter illegally into the country.
Libya. In the absence of opportunities for voluntary return, many remain stranded in Niger with no choice but to try to return.
to earn enough money to pay for the continuation of the trip. For more than 90% of the migrants assisted by IOM
(Nigeriens and other nationalities), the desire to improve their living conditions and to seek better
professional opportunities is the main reason for their decision to migrate. Although Niger is considered
relatively stable, population displacements and the continued growth of migrant "ghettos" in the
migration routes increase the pressure on already limited resources (food and land), and
could pose a threat to the fragile security balance in the north of the country.
According to the IOM, Niger is mainly known as a transit country for West African migration flows.
to Libya and Algeria, then for some to the Mediterranean. The country has a Net Migration Rate of -0.3 migrants/
1,000 population during the period 2015-2020. The IOM assessment shows that migrants are generally of
young men who emigrate for economic reasons from Senegal, Nigeria, Gambia, and Mali
and other West African countries.
https://www.rvo.nl/sites/default/files/2020/01/Rapport-de-la-mission-de-cadrage-RVO-sur-l-emploi-des-jeunes-dans-les-chaines-de-valeur-agricole-Niger.pdfSo, my friends, let's stop believing that everything is going to be wonderful in these countries. And yes, he already has big problems with locusts during rainy episodes.
Concerning China, one of these days I will have to explain to you that planting trees and planting a resilient forest rich in biodiversity are 2 different things.