The State Minister for Environment, Water and Mines, Prof. Munyanganizi Bikoro has called for joint state commitment to halt the spread of Africa deserts.

"There is need for Inter-State commitment and clear policies to execute regional and continental efforts to halt the spread of the Sahara and Kalahari deserts,” urged the minister.  

Bikoro said recently that state-shared efforts like tree planting will boost other set measures to save the continent from desert-generated natural disasters.

His call comes in the wake of preparations for planting an African wall of trees from Mauritania to Djibouti to slow down the southward spread of the Sahara desert. 

The initial phase of the two-year $3 million project poised to involve a 7,000 kilometre-long and 15 kilometre-wide belt of trees, was announced at last June’s rural development and food security (Cen-Sad) summit in Cotonou, Benin.

The Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel region is said to have started scientific consultations with representatives from the arid nations of Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal to launch pilot planting projects planned for September.

Another planting programme to include Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan, is expected to be finalised within two months under the auspices of six states in the Horn of Africa, linked through the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

The summit’s press release cited Mariam A.B. Diallo, the Benin-based president of the Cen-Sad organising committee, as saying the green wall will consist of more than just trees.

Diallo emphasised that reforestation, restoration of natural resources and the eventual development of fishing and livestock breeding are priorities for the project. 

The UNESCO-linked non-profit Observatory of the Sahara and the Sahel has prepared a report on the project, saying a labour-intensive project is needed for its success.

The report said that the labour-intensive project which will be monitored from Tripoli, Libya by Cen-Sad and Senegal will create employment, but advised that payments to be based on plant growth be partly withheld for two years until the trees are planted.

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