Restoring healthy, productive and resilient landscapes is thus both an environmental priority and a developmental and economic imperative. Land restoration can improve agricultural and pastoral productivity, restore soil fertility, protect water resources, conserve biodiversity, strengthen resilience to drought and climate shocks, and create jobs and sustainable livelihoods.
Land restoration and resilience building are embedded in the Bank Group’s Ten-Year Strategy 2024–2033, its Strategic Framework on Climate Change and Green Growth 2021–2030, and its Natural Resources Management and Investment Plan 2024–2029. They are also incorporated into the Bank’s Four Cardinal Points strategic compass, particularly Cardinal Point 4 on building climate-resilient infrastructure and robust value addition.
The Bank Group is supporting African countries to combat desertification, land degradation and drought through investments, technical assistance, policy dialogue and strategic partnerships. It promotes integrated land-use planning, sustainable land management, climate-resilient agriculture, water security, ecosystem restoration and resilient livelihoods.
The Great Green Wall Initiative (GGWI) has evolved from a Sahel-focused initiative into a broader continental platform for land restoration, drought resilience, sustainable livelihoods and economic transformation.
The African Development Bank is the lead development partner of the GGWI, in cooperation with the African Union, the Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall, governments and other development partners to support restoration, water security, resilient livelihoods, renewable energy and green jobs across the Sahel and other dryland regions.
Through its Transition Support Facility (TSF), the Bank Group is also strengthening the institutional and technical capacity of the Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall.
The Bank Group is also supporting the evolution of the Great Green Wall to an initiative that does more than plant trees. This entails working to support a range of productive and resilient landscapes, while helping countries develop bankable projects and mobilise concessional and private finance.
Beyond GGWI, the Bank Group has a broad portfolio of programmes addressing land degradation and drought.
In the Niger Basin, the Integrated Development and Climate Change Adaptation Programme supports land and ecosystem restoration, agroforestry, sustainable agriculture, livestock corridors and community adaptation planning. In the Sahel, the Programme to Strengthen Resilience to Food and Nutritional Insecurity supports soil and water conservation, reforestation, runoff control and improved household energy solutions.
In the Horn of Africa, programmes including the Drought Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods Programme (DRSLP), the Programme to Strengthen Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security (BREFONS) and the Multinational Climate Resilience Programme for Food and Livelihoods (BREFOL) strengthen drought resilience through water infrastructure, sustainable rangeland management, climate-smart agriculture, early warning systems, livelihood diversification and agro-pastoral value chains.
In Southern Africa, the Zambezi River Basin programme supports integrated water management, ecosystem-based adaptation and climate-resilient land-use practices.
The Bank Group also supports adaptation and resilience through targeted projects. In Côte d’Ivoire, the Cocoa Livelihoods Resilience Project promotes agroforestry, sustainable cocoa production, and climate-resilient livelihoods.
The Bank Group is also piloting the Adaptation Benefits Mechanism (ABM), an innovative approach that aims to mobilise new and sustainable financing for climate change adaptation, directly linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It constitutes the first non-market mechanism registered under Article 6.8 of the Paris Agreement, which responds to African countries’ demand for a fair instrument to finance adaptation.
In Senegal, with support from the Canada–African Development Bank Climate Fund (CACF), the Bank Group is advancing knowledge and policy dialogue on the links between gender, women’s land rights and climate change adaptation.
These interventions demonstrate the Bank Group’s integrated approach: restoring land while strengthening the economic and social systems that depend on it.
Restoring Africa’s landscapes at scale requires partnerships that can help mobilise long-term, predictable and innovative finance. The Bank Group works with the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Climate Investment Funds (CIF), Green Climate Fund (GCF), Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF, CACF, Korea–Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) Trust Fund and other partners and funds to leverage resources and reduce investment risks.
For example, the Southern Africa Great Green Wall Accelerator, which is supported by the GEF, advances regional coordination, investment planning and the development of bankable projects across the Southern Africa region. Through the Transition Support Facility, the Bank Group is strengthening the institutional capacity of the Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall and national structures, helping improve coordination, monitoring, resource mobilisation and investment pipeline development.
The Bank Group connects restoration with renewable energy and productive infrastructure. Through Desert to Power, renewable energy investments across the Sahel can support water pumping, irrigation, storage, agro-processing and other services that contribute to resilient rural economies.
A Guest Editorial