A wall of trees is reversing desertification and empowering communities in Nigeria
For years, the Sahara Desert has crept steadily toward communities in Kano State, Nigeria, drying up farmland and threatening livelihoods. Makoda village is holding it back with a wall of trees.
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Across northern Nigeria’s Sahelian belt, desertification is advancing relentlessly, threatening livelihoods and swallowing vast swaths of land. With nearly two-thirds of the country’s landmass already affected, and the Sahara creeping southward at 0.6 kilometers per year, the crisis now endangers over 40 million people who depend on increasingly barren soil.
In the North, vegetation cover shrank by around 50 percent over the past three decades, and food production in affected areas dropped by one-fifth. But in Makoda, where 362,000 Nigerians live, a grassroots, two-decade-old Wall of Trees initiative reversed desert encroachment on 15 hectares of farmland. The project offers critical lessons for climate adaptation and a sobering reminder of the difficulty of scaling community-led solutions to a crisis consuming 351,000 hectares each year.
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The Wall of Trees project launched in Makoda in 2004 with a strategy that extended beyond simple reforestation. The first line of defense consisted of 1,300 windbreak trees, primarily eucalyptus, forming a shelterbelt to protect the soil from erosion and shield the area from harsh Sahara winds. Behind this barrier, approximately 100 orchard trees, such as oranges, apples, and guavas, helped improve soil fertility and water retention while also providing food. The third tier included 300 woodlot trees to meet the community’s firewood needs. Finally, economic trees like neem, moringa, and jatropha created income opportunities through their oils, leaves and seeds.
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“The Wall of Trees initiative has helped me by multiplying the result of my farm produce,” said Lawan Muhammad, who farms millet and beans. “I now harvest three times, and sometimes even four times, what I used to get before. That way, I’ve been able to cater to the needs of my household.”
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