The United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, says more than 20 million hectares of land have been restored through efforts linked to Africa’s Great Green Wall initiative, as countries intensify efforts to combat desertification, drought and land degradation.
Mohammed disclosed this while addressing the opening of a high-level meeting of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
She said the initiative demonstrated the potential of African-led solutions to tackle land degradation, drought, food insecurity and declining livelihoods across the continent.
“Africa’s Great Green Wall offers one example of what scaling up could look like. More than 20 million hectares have been restored through efforts associated with the initiative and beyond its original corridor, including five million hectares regenerated by farmers in Niger,” she said.
Mohammed noted that the Great Green Wall had evolved from its original concept of establishing a line of trees across the Sahel into a broader development strategy that links land restoration with food production, job creation and economic opportunities.
She said the approach was particularly critical in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin, where drought, land degradation, conflict and insecurity continue to place vulnerable communities under pressure.
“Restoring land will not end conflict, but it can help to restore the livelihoods and opportunities that give people a stake in peace,” she said.
According to Mohammed, land degradation is reducing the incomes of farmers and herders, driving up food prices and weakening agricultural productivity, while also increasing pressure on water and energy systems.
She added that drought was imposing significant economic costs on governments, which are compelled to increase spending on emergency responses, subsidies and reconstruction while losing tax revenues and, in some cases, accumulating additional debt.
Mohammed warned that countries were investing too little in restoring degraded land despite the economic cost of inaction approaching $1 trillion annually.
She called on governments to move beyond isolated restoration projects by developing and implementing national land restoration and drought resilience plans backed by predictable financing and greater decision-making powers for communities whose livelihoods depend directly on land resources.
Globally, up to 40 per cent of the world’s land is degraded, undermining food production and livelihoods. The frequency and duration of droughts have also increased by 29 per cent since 2000, with as many as three in four people potentially facing drought impacts by 2050.
Mohammed said more than 70 countries had developed national drought plans with support from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. However, she stressed that securing the financial resources needed to implement the plans remained a major challenge.
“You should not be asked to develop national plans and then be left to search for the means to deliver them. Finance has to be in place to invest in the priorities that countries have set for themselves,” she said.
She urged countries to integrate land restoration and drought resilience into national development and fiscal planning, while reforming subsidies that encourage unsustainable practices.
Mohammed also called for greater use of innovative financing mechanisms, including green bonds and drought insurance, to boost investment in land restoration and strengthen climate resilience.
