1. Transformative Land Regeneration
The Drivers of Crisis
Grassroots Solutions
Dennis Garrity
UN Drylands Ambassador
S
Senior Research Fellow
World Agroforestry Centre

2. Terrorism & Political Violence

3. Food Insecurity in West Africa
Terrorism

6. Female Literacy and Land Degradation W. Africa

7. Perfect Storm of Challenges
in the Drylands
• Rainfall is becoming more erratic and extreme.
• Temperatures are increasing, intensifying crop stress.
• Soil fertility is further declining in many regions.
• Inorganic fertilizers are increasingly expensive.
• Population growth rates remain estremely high
• Farm sizes are rapidly declining. Farming is
expanding into more marginal lands.

8. The imperatives
• Build more productive and drought
resilient farming systems at scale
• Strengthen the economic position and the
social status and empowerment of women
• Improve food security and nutrition
• Contribute to conflict reduction by
increasing the resource pie

9. Reversing Desertification through
Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration
Southern Niger in the 1980s

10. The albida halo effect
• Microclimate buffering
• Soil fertility improvement

11. A Parkland Renaissance: trees are young and growing

13. Aerial view of a parkland dominated by Faidherbia in Niger

14. Major agroforestry regions in West Africa and
directions of expansion

15. Adaptation of fertilizer recommendation to local conditions
with strategic application of nurients
Other Successes:
•Local fertilizer packaging and
blending
•Target input Vouchers
•Legume-cereal rotation or
intercrop
•Participatory approaches
Application of fertilizers in the seed holes at
planting time

16. Microdose
Control

17. Rainwater Harvesting
Contour stone bunds slow runoff, increasing infiltration and
water available to crops.

18. Rainwater
Harvesting
Farm pond technology
Now suitable for mass
upscaling
More than 3000 farm
ponds are now operating in
Lare, Nakuru, Kenya
www.searnet.org

19. Scaling up Evergreen Agriculture
Integrating Biofertilizer and Fodder Trees into croplands
to restore and build more productive and drought resilient farming
and livestock systems
Rainwater Harvesting with an accent on simple techniques for
enhanced crop production, water recharge and water retention
integrated with agroforestry.
Integrated Soil Fertility M anagement with fertilizer
microdosing
with enhanced organic nutrient sources combined with
agroforestry.

20. Faidherbia albida is commonly found in cereal crop
systems in Ethiopia

21. December 2011: Ethiopian Prime Minister announces
national programme to establish 100 million
Faidherbia trees in farmers’ fields

23. 17 Countries are engaged in EverGreen Agriculture
Farmer Managed Natural
Regeneration
Conservation Agriculture with trees
Trees interplanted in conventional
tilled cropland
Farmer Managed Natural
Regeneration +
Trees interplanted in conventional
tilled cropland

24. Conclusions
• The drylands crises are serious and multi-
dimensional
• A fresh low-cost approach to land regeneration and
food security has taken root in Africa, and is spreading
widely.
• Millions of smallholders are adopting effective low cost
land regeneration methods
• Poorest households should be targeted over large
areas to end hunger in Africa
• Many nations are implementing or launching national
scaling-up programmes
• The EverGreen Agriculture Partnership is accelerating
the process of widespread adoption

25. For More Information
World Agroforestry Centre
www.worldagroforestry.org
Evergreen Agriculture web site
www.evergreenagriculture.net
d.garrity@cgiar.org