Officially launched during the COP21 Climate Change Conference in December 2015, the “4/1000 Initiative: Soils for Food Security and Climate” aims to ensure that agriculture contributes to combating climate change. French Agriculture Minister Stéphane Le Foll went on mission to Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, to inform the West African partner countries about the initiative and encourage the establishment and diffusion of climate-smart agricultural practices to increase the carbon stock of soils and regenerate degraded soils. Read on

West African ministers came together to outline a course of action to accelerate progress on the Great Green Wall. The First Conference of the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative was held from 2-7 May in Dakar, bringing together ministers from countries north and south of the Sahara as well as their development partners. Organised by the African Union, the high-level conference follows on the COP21 climate change conference, during which the international community pledged an additional USD 4 billion in support for the Great Green Wall over the next 5 years. Read on