Rapid population increase is forcing communities to clear forests or overexploit productive land to eke out a living. Poverty also drives them to poach wild animals for bush meat or cut trees down to sell. Over time, overexploitation has caused lands to become degraded and turn into deserts. According to a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report in Africa, 65% of productive land is degraded and desertification affects 45% of the continent’s land area.
Land degradation is exacerbating the effects of climate change with droughts becoming frequent, resulting in livestock deaths, low crop yields and poverty, mostly among agro-pastoral communities. However, in recent years, organizations and individuals have rolled out interventions to reverse land degradation and desertification. The most well-known of these is the UN-led regreening the Sahel initiative where communities in that vast region are planting trees and rehabilitating barren lands back to productivity. So far, 70,000 hectares of barren land have been rehabilitated and farming families are growing fruits and vegetables for their livelihoods in the Sahel.
Approaches rehabilitating barren lands
🔹 Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR)
FMNR helps to regrow previously felled indigenous trees and living tree stumps and sprouting root systems. From the stump, the farmer selects which healthy stems to keep and which to prune. The regrown trees and shrubs help to restore the soil structure and fertility, prevent erosion and soil moisture evaporation, rehabilitate springs and water tables and increase biodiversity species as well as feeding nutrients such as nitrogen into the soil. Trees regenerated with FMNR have a higher chance of survival than transplanted seedlings. Once the trees and shrubs are mature, animals can be grazed where they are growing. In Kenya, World Vision works with communities in drought-prone regions to implement FMNR on their farms.
🔹 The Groasis Waterboxx
The Groasis Waterboxx (GWB) is an award-winning biodegradable “intelligent” bucket invented by the late Pieter Hoff. It helps trees, plants, shrubs, flowers and vegetables to be grown from seedlings to maturity in desert regions. The bucket serves as a cocoon and creates a cooler microclimate for the seedlings covered by it. Sixteen litres of water are added to the GWB to irrigate the seedlings using a wick that drips 50 ml of water daily to the roots which is enough for their survival and its absorbent lid helps to collect dew and rain. The GWB reduces water use by 90% and has been used in over 40 countries around the world. In the arid, rocky Northern Spain the GWB has helped to restore 18,000 trees and in Morocco, it has been used to plant Tamarisk trees.
🔹 Zai pits
Zai pits are dug into degraded soil in arid and semi-arid regions to harvest and conserve water that crops like maize, onions, potatoes, bananas and vegetables need to grow. These basin-shaped pits are filled with organic manure, compost and mulch which help to rehabilitate the soil and conserve soil moisture before seeds are added. The pits, which are 20-30 cm in width, 10-20 cm deep, and 60-80 cm apart, help to ensure water availability at the plants’ roots. In Burkina Faso, Niger and Kenya, farmers dig zai pits on their farms and some have reported increase in crop yields.
🔹 Water bunds
Water bunds are semi-circular shaped pits that are dug out of dry, barren, sloped land to collect rainwater and surface water runoff that drains downhill and to prevent soil erosion. They are about 2.5 meters long and 5 meters wide. Grass seeds are planted in the bunds which then sprout and regreen the environment. When the grass has grown, it is fed to livestock owned by local communities. The bunds also slow down the flow of the water so that it seeps into the soil and encourages growth. In Tanzania and Kenya, over 315,000 water bunds have been dug by local communities working with the Justdiggit organization. Water bunds help to regreen large areas of barren land in a short time for the benefit of people, biodiversity, nature and the climate.
🔹 Stone lines
Stone lines are stones piles that are built on sloped degraded land in arid regions where the top fertile soil has been eroded. They harvest water runoff, reduce soil erosion, and improve water infiltration into the soil so that moisture is available to growing crops, especially in low rainfall seasons. They also trap the sediment carried by water from the upper slopes and help to improve soil fertility. In Kenya and Uganda, farmers in arid regions build stone lines from stones lying on their land. There are cases where stone lines have increased yields by up to 50% in the first year after being built.
Immediate benefits of restoring degraded land
Successful land rehabilitation initiatives depend on communities being educated about the benefits of being hands-on in the restoration of degraded lands. The UN-led the Great Green Wall initiative which aims to restore 100 million hectares of degraded arable land in the arid Sahel region has benefitted communities by generating income from the planting of moringa trees and hay on previously barren land. As a result, communities are motivated to restore more degraded land by digging zai pits and protecting regenerating trees and vegetation from woodcutters and grazing animals.
