In sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in the Great Green Wall countries, women provide the essential labour force and are central to food systems. Women, including rural dwellers, play a vital role for agro-sylvo-pastoral production, thus sustaining livelihoods and socioeconomic development in the region. Despite the adverse effects of climate change and the gendered challenges they encounter in securing access to and control over productive resources, public leadership and assets, women still operate in various fields related to land restoration, agroforestry value chain entrepreneurship, climate activism and green business. They represent the building block of development programmes such as the Great Green Wall (GGW) Initiative implemented in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa. Recognizing their huge potential, the Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall (PA/GGW) has launched the Women's Green Platform to harness women's contributions to the initiative further. National agencies for the GGW are also setting up coalitions to improve civil society organizations' participation. However, challenges remain in the operationalization of these platforms and in ensuring the effective participation of other women's and youth organizations in the GGW Initiative.
