Highlights
Turning the Tide on Desertification: FAO and Djibouti launch bold plan to boost the country’s Great Green Wall implementation
06/11/2025
With nearly 90 percent of its territory classified as arid or semi-arid, Djibouti faces significant challenges such as desertification, water scarcity,...
Africa’s Great Green Wall receives Global Technical Recognition at FAO@80
15/10/2025
Among hundreds of nominations worldwide, Africa’s Great Green Wall (GGW) initiative has been selected for Global...
Understanding livelihoods for successful large-scale restoration of Djibouti’s degraded lands
26/09/2025
As part of its ongoing support to the implementation of the Great Green Wall (GGW) initiative, FAO’s Action Against Desertification (AAD) programme...
FAO consolidates its technical assistance in Nigeria to expand large-scale land restoration across the country
26/07/2025
A four-day hands-on training was held in Kano and Jigawa States of Nigeria, bringing together 38 experts from 10 northern states. The training...
FAO builds resilience of farming and pastoral communities through mechanized land restoration in Niger
09/07/2025
Through its Action Against Desertification (AAD) program, FAO has invested in the restoration of degraded land for agricultural and pastoral purposes,...
Green Climate Fund approves a record $300 million for FAO-designed projects in Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia and the Sahel
01/07/2025
The Scaling-Up Resilience in Africa’s Great Green Wall (SURAGGWA), with an investment of $222 million, will support livelihoods of agropastoral and...
New report identifies key learning needs for a successful Great Green Wall implementation
11/12/2024
This report provides a summary of key learning gaps hindering the effective the implementation of the Great Green Wall initiative. It is based on a...
Giving back to the desert in Mauritania
05/12/2024
In depth story - Discover how FAO is helping to restore land in Mauritania as part of the Great Green Wall of Africa to protect communities against...
Science, Technology and Innovations in support of the implementation of the Great Green Wall
04/10/2024
This Special Edition No. 2 of the Echoes of the Great Green Wall is devoted to the state of progress in key areas and concrete scientific, technological...
Advanced regional training on Collect Earth and biophysical data collections on the Great Green Wall and the Sahel
23/09/2024
As part of its support to member countries and institutions for the implementation of the Great Green Wall (GGW), FAO’s Action Against Desertification...
FAO presents large-scale restoration success in Senegal to wider Great Green Wall stakeholders
13/09/2024
FAO, CIFOR-ICRAF, Great Green Wall (GGW) institutions and partners convened for a Second Week on GGW in Senegal, as part of the EU-funded Knowledge...
Trainings on mechanized large-scale land preparation techniques for restoration
23/04/2024
FAO is training local actors in large-scale restoration techniques and mechanized land preparation in support of field operations under the Great...
Nigeria is getting ready for the 2024 planting season
28/02/2024
FAO delivered a “training of master trainers” in large-scale restoration techniques from 20-28 February in Abuja, kick-starting field implementation...
Key results
AAD achievements since 2015
160 000 ha of land under restoration
100 000 households reached
15 million seedlings produced and planted
150 000 kg of forest seeds collected and sown in the field
110 native species prioritized and used for restoration
0.38-1.27 million tons CO2eq. *
* estimated carbon sequestration (2015-2022)
Videos
Action Against Desertification: FAO’s contributions to the Great Green Wall in Mauritania and Sudan
01/01/2024
Desertification is seriously affecting Sahel countries, south of Sahara for decades and is exacerbated by climate change and human activities putting pressure on remaining resources. With most of populations living in rural areas and directly relying on natural resources, environmental degradation has severely impacted those countries’ development.
Action Against Desertification - Mauritania (Goural)
16/12/2021
Action Against Desertification helps ten African countries - Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan - in the sustainable management and restoration of their dryland forests and rangelands.
Not deserting deserts: Scaling land restoration through innovation
04/12/2024
In Mauritania rising temperatures are fuelling Sahara expansion and desertification, leading to food insecurity and poverty. Watch the video and discover how farmers like Teslim are growing vegetables, fruit, forage and chickens by restoring fertile land with the support of FAO's Action Against Desertification programme.
Web application
GGW restoration monitoring app
A set of tools based on Google Earth Engine to detect restoration sites and monitor greening progress
Photo Gallery
The Great Green Wall in pictures
Explore this collection of Action Against Desertification photos from the field in FAO's Digital Media Hub
Related links
Contact us
Publications
Biophysical and socio-economic baselines - The starting point for Action Against Desertification
01/01/2018
Baseline assessments have been carried out in AAD countries to establish a reference against which to monitor changes and project impacts, as well as...
Non-Timber Forest Products: from restoration to income generation
01/01/2018
AAD promotes community-based restoration approaches along value chains – from the seed to the market – for several economically significant NTFPs. Some...
Restoration in Action Against Desertification: a manual for large-scale restoration to support rural communities’ resilience in the Great Green Wall Programme
01/01/2020
This publication supports processes related to rural communities’ resilience in implementing land restoration of the Great Green Wall Programme on the...
Restoring Food Systems with Nutritious Native Plants: Experiences from the African Drylands
18/10/2023
This new article published in the Food and Nutrition Bulletin explores how six years of large-scale restoration activities not only significantly improved...
Africa Open D.E.A.L: Open Data for Environment, Agriculture and Land & Africa's Great Green Wall
01/07/2021
The Africa Open DEAL and Africa’s Great Green Wall initiative is a first-of-its-kind collection of accurate, comprehensive, and harmonized African land...
Science, Technology and Innovations in support of the implementation of the Great Green Wall
04/10/2024
This Special Edition No. 2 of the Echoes of the Great Green Wall is devoted to the state of progress in key areas and concrete scientific, technological...
Knowledge for Great Green Wall Action (K4GGWA) Programme - Consolidated Year 1 Report (September 2023-September 2024)
01/04/2025
This annual report updates stakeholders on the results achieved by FAO and CIFOR-ICRAF in the implementation of the Knowledge for Great Green Wall Action...
Technical land use full report - Africa Open D.E.A.L: Open Data for Environment, Agriculture and Land & Africa's Great Green Wall
01/01/2022
The Africa Open DEAL and Africa’s Great Green Wall initiative is a first-of-its-kind collection of accurate, comprehensive, and harmonized African land...
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