Africa’s Great Green Wall project, launched in 2007 to restore 100 million hectares of degraded land, is falling short of its 2030 goal, according to Alain Richard Donwahi, president of the 2022 UN desertification summit. Donwahi revealed that the initiative, spanning 8,000 kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, is only 30% complete and faces multiple challenges, including funding shortfalls and coordination issues across the 11 involved countries, some of which face humanitarian crises. In 2020, it was estimated that the project will require at least $33 billion in extra funding to meet the 2030 target. While international donors pledged the sum of $19 billion pledge in 2021, only $2.5 billion had been redeemed as at March 2023. Nevertheless, Donwahi insists the project is more important than ever, especially with the advancement of climate change, highlighting the need for increased investment to get the project back on track.
SOURCE: REUTERS
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