Minister at COP21, says ownership by communities key to GGW success

The Minister of Environment, Mrs Amina Mohammed has said that ownership by communities is key to the success of the Great Green Wall Programme. The minister, who made this statement during a high level meeting on the Great Green Wall Programme in Africa entitled “Growing a World Wonder” as part of United Nations Framework Convention […]

The Minister of Environment, Mrs Amina Mohammed has said that ownership by communities is key to the success of the Great Green Wall Programme.
The minister, who made this statement during a high level meeting on the Great Green Wall Programme in Africa entitled “Growing a World Wonder” as part of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP21) in Paris recently, recommended a participatory approach in the delivering of the programme by involving the affected communities in the planning and execution of projects and feedback.
She stressed the importance of data gathering and storage as well as the adaptation of appropriate communication strategy and technology in the implementation of the programme. She further emphasized the importance of mainstreaming the GGW initiative into the national development plan as part of the sustainable development agenda and commended the integrated approach of the initiative.
The event which was co-organised by the African Union Commission and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was to serve as a vehicle to leverage new public and private investment under a GGW brand supported by a global campaign. The event under the co-chairmanship of Mr. Amedi Camera, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and Dr. Akinwumi Adeshina, President African Development Bank was in high attendance with representatives from the GGW countries, represented by their relevant ministers, World Bank, Global Environment Fund, European Union Commission, African Development Bank as well as bilateral partners.
The Vice President, Sustainable Development Practice at the World Bank, Ms Laura Lou commended the African Union for the Great Green Wall initiative, she noted that the World Bank has been supportive of the programme in Ethiopia through the restoration of degraded areas of about 100million hectares.
She informed that a sum of $ 1.9 billion was set aside for programmes and projects all over the world in agriculture, water resources, land restoration including GGW programme.
In his own statement, the African Development Bank (ADB) President, Dr. Akinwumi Adeshina, highlighted the importance of the need to revive Lake Chad, create new economic prosperity zones, adopt inclusive approach programmes/project delivering, make agriculture sustainability work, get the support of the finance ministers for the programme in the GGW member countries to ensure its sustainable funding, climate information and Early Warning System and data gathering, storage and management in relation to measurable target among others.
He further said the bank has set aside the sum of $ 14 billion for climate change adaptation programmes and projects in Africa.
At the end of the event, there was a general consensus among the partners that:
– The GGW programme is not about afforestation and reforestation but about food and livelihood, job creation, improvement of grazing facilities, fisheries and farmers
– There is the need to mobilise resources for GGW programme and arrest rural-urban drift
– Great Green Wall is about the survival of a country through increasing the resilience of countries to climate change and giving life back to the earth.