West Africa: From Hunger to Harvests - How Land Restoration Is Transforming the Sahel

What the report says

The World Food Programme is highlighting a land-restoration effort in the Sahel that it says is helping communities rebuild degraded ecosystems, improve food security and raise incomes across five sub-Saharan African countries. The AllAfrica-published report, dated 26 August 2026 and based on WFP material, focuses on villages such as Doungoulou in central Chad’s Guera Province, where residents and WFP partners began restoring land in 2021.

In Doungoulou, the community built a 6,000-metre dike to capture seasonal rainwater that would otherwise wash away topsoil. WFP says the structure now helps recharge groundwater, irrigate crops and support livestock, turning previously unproductive land into fields that can grow sorghum, millet, rice and vegetables. Local farmers cited in the article say harvests have increased and families are earning money from surplus produce, which can be used for school costs and other household needs.

The report places the project within a wider Sahel resilience programme covering Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. WFP says more than 4 million people have benefited from related resilience activities since 2018, and over 335,000 hectares of land have been rehabilitated so far. The agency aims to restore 475,000 hectares by 2030, with support from governments, UN partners and donors.

Beyond agriculture, the initiative is presented as a way to reduce pressure over scarce resources, strengthen cooperation between farmers and herders, and limit dependence on emergency aid. WFP says the approach combines technical support with community labour and local decision-making, which it argues helps ensure that restored land can be maintained over time.