The Great Green Wall in Senegal

Questioning the idea of acceleration through the conflicting temporalities of politics and nature among the Sahelian populations

Bibliographic Data

ID4240202
AuthorsEnguerran Macia (0000-0002-6519-5692), Jeremy Allouche (0000-0002-9639-3675, Institute of Development Studies), Moustapha Sagna, Moustapha Bas Sagna (Cheikh Anta Diop University), Amadou Diallo (0000-0002-8584-9972), Amadou Hamath Diallo (Institut de l'Environnement et Recherches Agricoles), Gilles Boëtsch, Aliou Guisse (Cheikh Anta Diop University), Pape Sarr, Pape Cheikh Sarr (0000-0003-3570-9901), Jean-Daniel Cesaro, Jean‐Daniel Cesaro (0000-0001-7019-5657, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement), Priscilla Duboz (0000-0002-5869-379X)
Year2023
Volume28
Issue1
Publication date2023-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueConservation Ecology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1195-5449 • E-ISSN: 1708-3087
PublisherResilience Alliance (PUBLISHER • CA)
DOI10.5751/es-13937-280131
OpenAlexW4321796626
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited33

In January 2021, the Great Green Wall Accelerator was announced at the third One Planet Summit in Paris. Based on the notion of acceleration developed by Harmut Rosa and using the idea of conflicting temporalities in the study of social-ecological systems, this article analyzes how the political will to accelerate the Great Green Wall reveals power dynamics between Western and Sahelian countries. We put in tension this acceleration of the Great Green Wall with (1) temporalities with respect to nature and reforestation, and (2) temporalities of life among the Sahelian populations. Whereas our contribution is mostly theoretical, building on Hartmut Rosa’s work, we illustrate our approach in terms of political ecology and anthropology based on an empirical case study of the Ferlo region in Senegal, a key region with respect to the Great Green Wall initiative. Our analysis shows that by controlling the temporality of the Great Green Wall program through this Accelerator, Western powers dominate the Sahelian states, making the Accelerator part of a neo-colonial approach. Moreover, the desire to accelerate the Great Green Wall with a massive investment in a short span of time corresponds to the perception of a nature made available, incompatible with the time of ecological restoration. Finally, the acceleration advocated by Western economic liberalism seems to be coming up against resistance of local populations rooted in an identity that values community solidarity, the stability of social structures, and closeness between humans, their herds, and nature

Geography · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Temporalities · Temporality · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management · Ecology, Conservation, and Geographical Studies · French Urban and Social Studies · Law · Ecology

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