Format/Structure

The panel is intended to start with paper presentations, followed by a roundtable discussion with the convenors.

Long Abstract

Designs to combat deforestation and desertification have long been connected to the policy idea of a green belt, on the African continent currently most extensively formulated as the Great Green Wall (GGW) initiative. In critical reviews of such efforts, one of the central observations has been the wide gap in implementation in different areas, from comparatively low results, for instance in Sudan, to substantial results, for instance in Senegal. Deeper analysis revealed how the seemingly straightforward programme of ‘making things green’ is set against contested and changing visions of green transformations, as well as a variety of models and experiences of regreening interventions. These mostly preceded the GGW, which can be found to be a politically powerful concept that feeds, nevertheless, on reforestation projects led by other actors, such as farming communities, while often overselling its own success.

Our interdisciplinary panel explores the political dynamics behind this contradiction between a highly visible imaginary and small-scale efforts that often remain invisible behind the spectacle of such imaginaries. We seek papers that engage with the discussion of the persistent appeal of large designs of regreening, including the institutional processes and knowledge production that sustain the appeal. At the same time, we invite papers that highlight ongoing work in the shadow of such big schemes, such as adjustments to farming and pastoralist practices in direction of agroforestry and agrobiodiversity. We hope that such an exploration can contribute to shifting attention away from often placated but superficial aspects of regreening, such as number of planted trees, to the details of landscape development and plant growth in relation to human sociality and needs.

This Panel has 5 pending paper proposals.
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