On 10 November 2020 at 15:00 (CEST), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is hosting a webinar on 'Addressing Water Scarcity Through Land Restoration: The Africa’s Great Green Wall experience'.

There is a link between water scarcity, land management, biodiversity and vegetation cover, with an impact on agriculture and food security and nutrition. Measures to reduce or stop overgrazing, abrupt land use changes, unsustainable agricultural practices and excessive pressure on water resources, can reverse desertification and land degradation processes which face several parts of the world. The expected benefits are the prevention of the loss of biodiversity, the improvement of water availability for agriculture, the reduction of food insecurity, poverty and migration. The overall result is the restoration of the productive capacity of the land and the ensuing benefits for rural livelihoods, including through more water for agriculture.

The webinar will focus on linkages between proactive land restoration, such as through the Africa’s Great Green Wall Initiative (GGWI), and the resulting improved ecosystem goods and services that it provides, with focus on more water resources for agriculture. Building on the lessons from the GGWI, the webinar will explore the opportunity for a similar Great Green Wall for similar regions of the world which are facing similar challenges.