In September 2023, CARI and its Sahelian partners, ENDA Pronat in Senegal and the members of the ReSaD, are embarking on a new 3-year project to strengthen and pursue the commitment of civil society in the Sahel to the deployment of agro-ecological practices in the territories and its involvement within the Great Green Wall Initiative (GGWI). The PASS-LCD project is the first phase of a 9-year programme, which aims to promote sustainable agricultural development in dry zones by combining the security of populations and the preservation of the environment, through active collaboration between civil society and political players.
The Sahel is an area facing an ever-increasing number of climatic, security, health and migration crises. It is therefore necessary to pursue cooperation with Sahelian civil society organisations (CSOs) to strengthen actions to combat desertification and sustainable land management through dialogue with public policies and multi-actor collaboration.
The project focuses on advocacy and capacity-building for civil society players. One of its objectives is to contribute to the recognition of agroecology, at the regional level and within international negotiations, as an effective solution to the challenges of combating desertification and drought in the Sahel. The principles of agro-ecology appear to be relevant for supporting the transformation of agricultural production systems to combine sustainable food and environmental protection. But they are still little used in the definition of development guidelines by governments and at international level. Advocacy work will therefore be pursued and fuelled through multi-stakeholder consultation and dialogue.
This project will also facilitate dialogue between civil society and the political decision-makers of the Great Green Wall Initiative in order to guarantee and formalise a legitimate place for CSOs in the governance of the GGW.
Non-state actors, such as civil society organisations, have a major role to play in implementing this initiative and achieving its projected results by 2030. However, the sustainability and legitimacy of civil society’s position within the bodies of the GGW Initiative is currently neither clear nor secure. The actions of the PASS-LCD aim to give real visibility to Sahelian CSOs, which contribute to the objectives of the GGW.
