In the past decade, multiple African nations have been working together on projects that have the purpose to stop and reverse the land degradation. For this purpose, the people that live in the areas where the soil has been badly damaged or has been affected by the process of desertification have been mobilized, educated, and motivated to perform a reforestation. The reforestation generally has been taking place along the northern border of the region where it touches the outskirts of the Sahara Desert. The results have been excellent. The trees that have been planted are trees that produce fruits, thus food, they contributed to making the soil more fertile but also much more resilient to erosion, and the wells have started to replenish their water because of the protection from the trees above them that significantly reduce the evaporation.
The European Energy Security Strategy (2014) which acts as guidance for these policies emphasizes the need to become less dependent on other countries.
