Our approach

With communities, for communities

Since 2010, Communities Regreen the Sahel has strengthened food security, livelihoods and biodiversity in the Sahel through community-led Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR). Launched in Niger, the programme expanded to Burkina Faso and Senegal in 2018. Our locally-led approach has been key in the massive upscaling of FMNR in all three countries.

Communities in the lead

We are convinced that local communities must be the driving force behind ecosystem restoration. In contrast to many other initiatives, we take a home-grown, bottom-up sustainable approach. We give small-scale subsistence farmers the knowledge, tools and technical support they need to regreen their land through FMNR, a practice developed in Niger based on Indigenous knowledge and techniques. Thanks to the programme, more than 100,000 farmers in Niger, Burkina Faso and Senegal have been trained in FMNR in recent years. Thanks to their efforts, over 140,000 hectares have been regreened.

Local farmers are not only regreening their land, they are spreading the word  about FMNR and inspiring others in their communities  to join them. On regreened FMNR plots, ‘champion’ farmers are passing their skills on to their neighbours, demonstrating the effectiveness of FMNR and other agroecological practices, which enhance soil fertility and water retention, enrich biodiversity and strengthen resilience to climate change.

Access to nutritious food

Crucially, FMNR and agroecological practices have also enabled farmers in Niger, Burkina Faso and Senegal to increase their yields and incomes. Thanks to the Communities Regreen the Sahel programme, cowpea and cereal harvests have substantially increased in the regreened areas, resulting in improved access to nutritious food for families. Foods that are harvested and produced from FMNR trees – such as Baobob fruit, Shea butter and soumbala – often have important nutritional values.

Social cohesion and inclusion

Communities Regreen the Sahel is also contributing to social cohesion in the Sahel, where poverty, resource scarcity and livelihood insecurity is driving conflict. More than 800 village committees have been established across Niger, Burkina Faso and Senegal to manage ongoing regreening efforts. The village committees – which include farmers, pastoralists, and local and traditional authorities – provide a valuable space for making agreements about land use and resolving potential conflicts. In a context of extreme gender inequality, special attention is paid to women in the communities. Communities Regreen the Sahel is strengthening women food producer organisations by supporting them in adding value to FMNR-products and improving access to local markets. The programme also supports FMNR on communal land, ensuring access for groups such as women and youth who are less likely to own land.

Supportive policy environment 

In the Sahel, where land degradation, conflict, and climate stress intersect, good land governance is essential to sustain regreening and community resilience. We engage with decision-makers at all levels, from the local to the global, to recognise and support community-led natural regeneration. Our efforts have contributed to official recognition in Niger and Senegal of FMNR as a key approach to improving productivity and resilience.

The locally-led regreening movement is gaining momentum in Niger, Burkina Faso and Senegal. In the future, we aim to expand our collaboration to communities in other Sahelian countries.