"Countries in the Sahel region of Africa have made little progress on the “Great Green Wall,” a 5,000-mile-long band of trees planned for the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. Even where communities are planting new trees, few seedlings actually survive, new research shows.
The African Union launched the project in 2007, planning to create a 10-mile-wide strip of trees that would stretch from coast to coast, across 11 countries in the Sahel. By stopping desertification, the project aimed to protect farmers, help shore up the supply of food, stem migration, and even fight extremism. But as of last year, the project was estimated to be only 30 percent complete.
While wealthy nations have promised more than $20 billion to support the project, very little of that money has been put toward the Wall. Before grants can be disbursed, they must go through a lengthy approval process. And even when money reaches countries in the region, governments often lack the means to distribute funds at the local level."
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