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The Social Impacts of Sustainable Land Management in Great Green Wall Countries: An Evaluative Framework Based on the Capability Approach

O'byrne, David LU ; Mechiche-Alami, Altaaf LU ; Tengberg, Anna LU and Olsson, Lennart LU orcid (2022) In Land 11(3).
Abstract
The Great Green Wall Initiative (GGWI) is a pan-African program launched in 2007 to combat land degradation and bring about both ecological and socio-economic benefits in the Sahel. With projects in place on only one-fifth of the targeted land and uncertainty about the extent of positive impacts, there is a need for improved monitoring and evaluation of current projects to inform the design of future projects. In this paper, we focus on the evaluation of socio-economic impacts, drawing on development theory, to relate investments in sustainable land management (SLM) to outcomes in terms of human well-being. We deploy a conceptual model, which draws on both the capability approach to human development and the sustainable livelihood... (More)
The Great Green Wall Initiative (GGWI) is a pan-African program launched in 2007 to combat land degradation and bring about both ecological and socio-economic benefits in the Sahel. With projects in place on only one-fifth of the targeted land and uncertainty about the extent of positive impacts, there is a need for improved monitoring and evaluation of current projects to inform the design of future projects. In this paper, we focus on the evaluation of socio-economic impacts, drawing on development theory, to relate investments in sustainable land management (SLM) to outcomes in terms of human well-being. We deploy a conceptual model, which draws on both the capability approach to human development and the sustainable livelihood framework. To contextualize the framework to the Sahel, we undertook a literature review of scientific studies of the facilitative social conditions and socio-economic impacts of SLM interventions in four countries: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Niger and Ethiopia. We further refined the framework by examining project evaluation reports of Global Environmental Facility (GEF)-funded SLM projects. Our analysis of GEF projects shows that current monitoring and evaluation pays only limited attention to achieved outcomes in terms of well-being. We briefly discuss the application of the framework to SLM interventions and make recommendations for how it should be operationalized, including recommending more comprehensive measurement of the well-being impacts of these projects. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
afforestation, deforestation, Sustainable development, Sahel, land degradation
in
Land
volume
11
issue
3
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85125726389
ISSN
2073-445X
DOI
10.3390/land11030352
project
Large-scale Assessment of Land Degradation to guide future investment in SLM in the Great Green Wall countries
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4e4d775a-eb3e-4c70-83b7-3cc90644123c
date added to LUP
2022-03-08 12:05:19
date last changed
2025-10-14 13:29:34
@article{4e4d775a-eb3e-4c70-83b7-3cc90644123c,
  abstract     = {{The Great Green Wall Initiative (GGWI) is a pan-African program launched in 2007 to combat land degradation and bring about both ecological and socio-economic benefits in the Sahel. With projects in place on only one-fifth of the targeted land and uncertainty about the extent of positive impacts, there is a need for improved monitoring and evaluation of current projects to inform the design of future projects. In this paper, we focus on the evaluation of socio-economic impacts, drawing on development theory, to relate investments in sustainable land management (SLM) to outcomes in terms of human well-being. We deploy a conceptual model, which draws on both the capability approach to human development and the sustainable livelihood framework. To contextualize the framework to the Sahel, we undertook a literature review of scientific studies of the facilitative social conditions and socio-economic impacts of SLM interventions in four countries: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Niger and Ethiopia. We further refined the framework by examining project evaluation reports of Global Environmental Facility (GEF)-funded SLM projects. Our analysis of GEF projects shows that current monitoring and evaluation pays only limited attention to achieved outcomes in terms of well-being. We briefly discuss the application of the framework to SLM interventions and make recommendations for how it should be operationalized, including recommending more comprehensive measurement of the well-being impacts of these projects.}},
  author       = {{O'byrne, David and Mechiche-Alami, Altaaf and Tengberg, Anna and Olsson, Lennart}},
  issn         = {{2073-445X}},
  keywords     = {{afforestation; deforestation; Sustainable development; Sahel; land degradation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  number       = {{3}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{Land}},
  title        = {{The Social Impacts of Sustainable Land Management in Great Green Wall Countries: An Evaluative Framework Based on the Capability Approach}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/land11030352}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/land11030352}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}