Towards collaborative sustainable management of agropastoral resources

Since the 1960s, the silvopastoral region of Ferlo, which is vital for cattle farming in Senegal, has been affected by desertification linked to a decrease in rainfall. At the same time, population growth in farming communities and increasing herd sizes are exacerbating pressure on the ecosystem. This combination of factors is affecting the region’s capacity for regeneration. It is against this backdrop that the Dundi Ferlo project is supporting pastoral communities in managing their resources. It is supporting activities to restore the land and helping livestock farmers to ensure collaborative and sustainable use of forest resources and fodder. Dundi Ferlo is part of the Great Green Wall programme, one of the goals of which is to restore at least 10,000 hectares of degraded land in Ferlo by 2032.

The project has three components:

• Implement and evaluate reforestation activities with pastoral communities.
• Build the resilience of pastoral communities through better management and use of natural resources.
• Conduct consultations with the stakeholders, capitalise on outcomes achieved and prepare for scale-up of the project.
   

• Restore 1,000 hectares of degraded land.
• Evaluate different approaches to reforestation in the Sahel.
• Improve incomes for pastoral communities by expanding industries for processing non-timber forest products.

What makes the Dundi Ferlo project unique is that it puts local land users first. Through their pastoral units, livestock farmers will have a central role in the reforestation process and in managing the restored areas. The project also takes socio-economic challenges into account, to ensure lasting results and sustainable use of resources. The local communities, especially women, will be able to diversify their sources of income by developing commercial activities using products from the reforested areas. Dundi Ferlo is helping to protect the global environment by implementing and evaluating different methods of reforestation in Sahel ecosystems, with a view to them being promoted and replicated at scale within the Great Green Wall programme.