In this space of new approaches to landscape management in the Sahel, new and innovative technologies can play an important role in increasing the efficiency and effectiveness with which potential solutions are deployed. This section focuses on the three “I”s of opportunities from technological advances: information, institutions, and investments. Opportunities within the three “I”s can be further enhanced by efforts to integrate these approaches.
It is important to note that while new technologies offer efficiency and effectiveness gains, caution must be applied to technology adoption as unintended consequences may result. For example, technologies that improve water use efficiency in the absence of a cap on water use may lead to increased water demand and use in environments like Lake Chad. These unintended consequences and costs must be considered alongside benefits as new technological solutions are evaluated.
Information, including data and analytics, is critical to advancing information that undergirds appropriate and effective landscape approaches. The World Bank's recent CCDR for the Sahel region underscores the importance of mapping different land uses (the CCDR includes agricultural, pastoral, forest, grassland, and settlement areas) to inform identification and prioritization of investments that could support sustainable land management through an integrated landscape approach. Understanding where these land uses exist across the landscape, as well as analyzing the ecosystem services and values associated with productive land use - and conversely the costs and consequences of unsustainable land use – is critical to an effective landscape approach for the region.
Information resources that can support the landscape approach in the Sahel and are routed in global good practice include:
This case study is an example of increasing data and information necessary to inform the landscape approach. Accelerated soil erosion is a threat to agricultural productivity because it results in the loss of fertile topsoil and in pollution in downstream wetlands and water bodies. The issue is aggravated in certain contexts such as semi-arid areas, areas with steep slopes, deforested areas, and in regions with intense rainfall. Depending on the conditions in a basin, erosion can be caused by water, wind, and tillage. Soil erosion also causes huge losses to the economy. Modelling erosion in a watershed can be used to design effective measures such as reduced tillage and no-till agriculture practices, improved vegetation cover, and structural measures such as terraces.
Recognizing soil loss as a major threat to the agricultural development and overall economic development in Malawi, the Government of Malawi (GoM) together with UNEP, UNDP and FAO undertook a study to assess the current rates and trends of soil loss in Malawi as a baseline for future monitoring of soil loss in the country. Through the application of a sediment model called SLEMSA, the State was able to identify the hotspots for soil erosion and the main causes of soil loss rates. Source: http://www.fao.org/3/I6387EN/i6387en.pdf
Institutions and policy solutions are critical to advancing multisectoral approaches to land management and restoration. In the Sahel region, specific institutions exist to forward this cause. One example is the Sahel Integrated Resilience Programme (SIRP) SIRP is led by the World Food Programme and aims to restore ecosystems and support vulnerable populations across the Sahel region. The SIRP has over 400,000 hectares under restoration. Activities include water conservation, sustainable land management, agroforestry and regenerative agriculture and other practices. The video below shows a WFP integrated resilience site in Niger.
The World Bank’s CCDR for the Sahel region recommends that in the Sahel, continuation or development of policy reform (and investments) that can expand existing multi-sectoral landscape scale approaches such as the Great Green Wall. Specific recommendation to support this goal include:
The recommendations are being captured by institutions and policy at varying levels in the Sahel region.
Organizations such as the Alliance of Biodiversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture build capacity for agrobiodiversity in the Sahel region by promoting neglected and underutilized species. Other global efforts such as the Convention on Biological Diversity also aim to help address various challenges associated with landscape-scale management.
Regional organizations such as the Sahel Alliance can play a critical role in strengthening regional collaboration and mutual assistance among the countries of the Sahel for better landscape management.
Great Green Wall Initiative (GGWI) Regional initiatives like the African Union’s Great Green Wall Initiative are critical to reversing land degradation and building climate resilience across the Sahel. In the G5 Sahel, GGWI supports reforestation, agroforestry, and sustainable land management while promoting green jobs and climate-smart livelihoods. National action plans are coordinated under a shared regional framework, supported by key partners such as the World Bank, UNCCD, and the EU. These efforts are crucial in combating desertification and restoring ecosystems in vulnerable zones. The UNCCD has a campaign called Growing a Green Wonder to raise awareness about the Great Green Wall effort.
Permanent Interstates Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS)
CILSS plays a coordinating role in strengthening regional responses to drought, food insecurity, and land degradation. It supports member countries with agro-meteorological data, early warning systems, and sustainable resource management tools. In the G5 Sahel, CILSS facilitates cross-border collaboration and policy alignment on climate adaptation and land restoration. It works closely with ECOWAS, FAO, and development banks to scale regional resilience strategies.
The national and sub-national institutions of the Sahel region... National and sub-national institutions have implemented, for example, several biodiversity conservation initiatives to address environmental challenges and promote sustainable development. A key effort is the establishment of protected areas and national parks, which safeguard critical habitats for diverse species. These parks are highlighted in the picture gallery below:
Local Community-led conservation:Community-led conservation seeks to integrate traditional knowledge and involve local populations in the sustainable land use and anti-poaching activities. For example, the Sahel Integrated Resilience Programme (SIRP) has focused on empowering communities through community-centered planning of restoration and resilience activities.
The World Bank has been investing significantly in the Sahel region on landscape related activities as part of national and regional programs (including as part of the Niger and Senegal Basins, Great Green Wall, and now the RESILAND+ programs). These have had some success in improving investments although their implications are complex.
The Great Green Wall Initiative
The Great Green Wall Initiative is supported by institutions as discussed earlier in this e-book, and involves substantial investments across the Sahel region. The Great Green Wall Initiative was established in 2007 by the African Union to restore degraded landscapes on the continent across 22 countries, including those of the Sahel. The Initiative’s goal is to restore 100 million hectares of degraded land while creating 10 million jobs by 2030. More than $14 billion has been raised to support these goals.
SAWAP
Recognizing the growing threats to the Sahel region’s dryland forests, in 2012 the World Bank launched the Sahel and West Africa Program in Support of the Great Green Wall (SAWAP).This program addressed land degradation through integrated and sustainable land management, particularly rehabilitation and restoration of land. The project rehabilitated 1.6 million hectares of land, benefiting nearly 19.4 million people. Importantly, this project focused on community-based conservation, empowering local communities to steward their own landscapes. The project identified the need to focus more on engaging the private sector and creating jobs. These focal areas featured prominently in the follow-up project to SAWAP, the RESILAND Sahel program.
RESILAND+
The RESILAND Sahel Program is an umbrella program with multiple component projects in countries of the Sahel that focus on landscape scale restoration with multiple co-benefits. RESILAND focuses on the nexus between healthy land that provides social, economic, and environmental functions by integrating investments in restoration such as reforestation, sustainable land management, job creation, and governance.
Forthcoming Livable Landscapes Academy
The World Bank Group is also reformulating its approach to better leverage available knowledge (including the tacit knowledge of practitioners) to scale development impact on the ground through the World Bank Knowledge Academy. As part of this framework, a Livable Landscapes Knowledge Academy is being formulated to curate available knowledge, facilitate knowledge exchange, and facilitate impact by scaling the area of landscapes that provide ecosystems and socio-economic community benefits. The Sahel is expected to be a strong focus of this program - both to contribute its long legacy of work and lessons to such a program, as well as learn from other elements of emerging global good practice including technological advances from others parts of the region and world.