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.
   

The project facilitates the implementation of sustainable management practices and, ultimately, helps to preserve the current state of vegetation cover in the Ferlo region. With improved organisation, livestock farmers are now in a position to claim land specifically for livestock farming.

• 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.

The Dundi Ferlo project stands out for its innovative approach, which places pastoral systems and their collective governance at the heart of its activities, through pastoral units. It combines ecological restoration with socio-economic development, strengthening the resilience of local communities, particularly women. Dundi Ferlo thus contributes to the preservation of the global environment by testing and evaluating different reforestation approaches adapted to Sahelian ecosystems. Finally, the project aims to capitalise on and scale up solutions within the framework of the Great Green Wall.