Turning the Tide on Desertification: FAO and Djibouti launch bold plan to boost the country’s Great Green Wall implementation

With nearly 90 percent of its territory classified as arid or semi-arid, Djibouti faces significant challenges such as desertification, water scarcity, soil fertility decline and the need to strengthen the resilience and well-being of rural communities. To effectively respond to these challenges, the country has renewed its commitment to Africa’s Great Green Wall (GGW) initiative, with the official launch of its National Coalition for the GGW and the adoption of the revised GGW National Strategy and Action Plan 2025–2034.

The 3-day national workshop (videos here and here) held from 27 to 29 October 2025 in Djibouti, brought together 45 participants including representatives from the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MEDD), the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, Fisheries, Livestock and Marine Resources (MAEPE-RH), other relevant sectoral ministries, local authorities, academia (CERD and University of Djibouti), rural cooperatives (including PARI Association and Ali-Faren Cooperative), women associations, as well as from technical and implementing partners such as FAO, WFP and IOM. The workshop served as a great platform for dialogue and coordination on the GGW and allowed to validate key strategic, operational and reporting instruments. The revised GGW National Strategy and Action Plan (2025–2034) that was developed with sustained support from FAO, provides the future direction to the GGW implementation in Djibouti, as a component of the regional strategy of the Panafrican Agency of the GGW. The document outlines Djibouti’s strategic and institutional framework for implementing the GGW initiative over the next decade, aligning national actions with regional and global climate commitment and restoration targets.

The milestone workshop was an opportunity to launch the GCF funded multi-country project Scaling-Up Resilience in Africa’s Great Green Wall (SURAGGWA). “This is the first ever project in Djibouti dedicated exclusively to advancing the Great Green Wall initiative” said Idriss Ismaël Nour, the country’s Director of Environment. For, Djibouti has prioritized restoration of 300,000 ha of degraded lands in its new GGW action plan, and SURAGGWA will cover up to 10% of this target, in addition to developing the value chains of NTFPs such as Boswellia resin (frankincense), Opuntia (cactus), date palm and fodder production for the livestock. Approved in July 2025, SURAGGWA aims to accelerate large-scale land restoration, promote sustainable non-timber forest product value chains and strengthen the capacity of GGW national and regional institutions across eight countries in the Sahel. The initiative is FAO’s first multi-country proposal and the largest funding request ever submitted on behalf of its Member Countries. SURAGGWA builds on the Action Against Desertification (AAD) programme initial interventions since 2021 in Djibouti. The national workshop highlighted the SURAGGWA project package to the National Coalition, with FAO and the Ministry of Environment outlining its three components, implementation arrangements and delivery partnerships, and validating a two-year operational roadmap (2026–2027). Through this renewed commitment, FAO and the MEDD reaffirm their shared engagement to ensuring that Djibouti’s Great Green Wall interventions are adequately coordinated, transparent and inclusive, paving the way for effective restoration and improved livelihoods across the country.

As biophysical and socio-economic baselines to GGW expansion, FAO has worked with GGW national experts to train and ensure that harmonization of reporting and monitoring of interventions and progress are assessed and regularly measured in a transparent, comparable and consistent manner. The results of the assessed national socio-economic and biophysical baselines were presented during the workshop, providing robust reference data for the planning, monitoring and evaluation of interventions and restoration activities. FAO also showcased the innovative digital tools for land use analysis and restoration tracking developed under the AAD programme, including the GGW Restoration Monitoring App and Collect Earth. These tools are increasingly being used and adopted by GGW countries and the Panafrican Agency of the GGW. The use of efficient and coordinated data and tools is critical to assess and monitor progress for SURAGGWA and for the implementation of the GGW as a whole.

With financial supports from the European Union (K4GGWA project) and the GCF, FAO has played a leading role in helping Djibouti establish the National Coalition for the GGW, an inclusive governance mechanism that brings together ministries, local governments, communities and development partners. The Coalition’s official launch marks a milestone in strengthening national ownership and coordination for land restoration and climate resilience initiatives across Djibouti.