The combined effect of land degradation, overexploitation, deforestation and climate change, confronts the Sahel with a rapid advance of the desert. It was to curb this threat that the Great Green Wall project was launched. 

On one side the Sahara, an immense expanse of stones and sand extending over 5000 km from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea and covering an area of 8.5 million km². A dry environment hostile to plant and animal life, despite the presence of some oases near the rare water points. On the other, the Sahel, which is home to 300 million women, men and children whose lives and means of subsistence are highly dependent on what nature has to offer them: water, arable land, biodiversity, etc.

What could have been a simple story of neighborhood between two geographical areas could, if left unchecked, become the story of an expanding desert. Indeed, it is estimated that the Sahara has progressed 250 km since 1900. A serious threat to the preservation of biodiversity and livelihoods, desertification has considerable ecological and socio-economic consequences. The Great Green Wall was created with the objective of stemming this threat.