{"id":14555,"date":"2016-03-10T05:30:57","date_gmt":"2016-03-10T05:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/?p=14555"},"modified":"2016-03-10T05:32:07","modified_gmt":"2016-03-10T05:32:07","slug":"yacouba-sawadogo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/yacouba-sawadogo","title":{"rendered":"Yacouba Sawadogo, The Farmer Who Stopped The Desert"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"a6b39195b99473d6c9dd698db2668010\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:2px 0 2px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<center>\r\n\r\n<script type='text\/javascript'>\r\nfunction ShorterThan(widthMax) {\r\n                if (screen.width < widthMax) {return true;}  \r\n                else {return false}\r\n    }\r\nvar LimitWidth = 728\r\nvar MobileZoneID = 348996\r\nvar DesktopZoneID = 348995   \r\n<!--\/\/<![CDATA[\r\n   document.MAX_ct0 ='';\r\n   var m3_u = (location.protocol=='https:'?'https:\/\/cas.criteo.com\/delivery\/ajs.php?':'https:\/\/cas.criteo.com\/delivery\/ajs.php?');\r\n   var m3_r = Math.floor(Math.random()*99999999999);\r\n   document.write (\"<scr\"+\"ipt type='text\/javascript' src='\"+m3_u);\r\n   if (ShorterThan(LimitWidth)) {document.write (\"zoneid=\"+MobileZoneID);} else {document.write (\"zoneid=\"+DesktopZoneID);}\r\n   document.write(\"&nodis=1\");\r\n   document.write ('&cb=' + m3_r);\r\n   if (document.MAX_used != ',') document.write (\"&exclude=\" + document.MAX_used);\r\n   document.write (document.charset ? '&charset='+document.charset : (document.characterSet ? '&charset='+document.characterSet : ''));\r\n   document.write (\"&loc=\" + escape(window.location));\r\n   if (document.referrer) document.write (\"&referer=\" + escape(document.referrer));\r\n   if (document.context) document.write (\"&context=\" + escape(document.context));\r\n   if ((typeof(document.MAX_ct0) != 'undefined') && (document.MAX_ct0.substring(0,4) == 'http')) {\r\n       document.write (\"&ct0=\" + escape(document.MAX_ct0));\r\n   }\r\n   if (document.mmm_fo) document.write (\"&mmm_fo=1\");\r\n   document.write (\"'><\/scr\"+\"ipt>\");\r\n\/\/]]>--><\/script>\r\n<\/center>\n<\/div>\n<p>Yacouba Sawadogo is a farmer from Burkina Faso. When desertification was threatening his home, he reintroduced an ancient African farming method that restored the soil. His work was so effective that a documentary entitled \u201c<i>The Man Who Stopped the Desert<\/i>\u201d was made.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The land was turning to desert<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sawadogo lives in the Sahel Belt &#8211; an area that has experienced regular droughts for centuries. The longest drought lasted 250 years, from 1450 to 1700. Another drought in 1914 caused widespread famine. The latest occurred between 1968 and 1974. During this period, the area was hit with desertification. Over-farming, overgrazing, and overpopulation of marginal lands caused the soil to erode.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u00a0T<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">he land was barren and widespread famine returned. \u00a0International aid helped the effects of the famine. \u00a0Researchers were unable to fix the drying land.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_14559\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14559\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14559\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/03\/to-fight-desertification-lets-manage-our-land-better.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/03\/to-fight-desertification-lets-manage-our-land-better.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/03\/to-fight-desertification-lets-manage-our-land-better-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/03\/to-fight-desertification-lets-manage-our-land-better-85x48.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-14559\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i.unu.edu\/media\/ourworld.unu.edu-en\/article\/16313\/To-Fight-Desertification-Lets-Manage-Our-Land-Better.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>Taking matters into his own hands<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sawadogo did not want to leave his home. <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;From my grandfather&#8217;s grandfather&#8217;s grandfather, we were always here,&#8221; he said. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">He decided to try an old African method of farming he learned from his parents. The method, called za\u00ef, is simple and affordable. He dug holes in the soil that were about 20-30 centimeters long and deep. He then filled each hole with compost. Stones were placed across his field in order to slow down the flow of water. This gave the soil more time to soak up the water and made it a better environment for plants to grow. The compost in the pits attracted termites, who digested the organic material and dug channels in the ground. The termite channels allowed water to travel further down into the soil. \u00a0Sawadogo planted trees in the holes. <em>&#8220;Without trees, no soil,&#8221;<\/em> he explained. The za\u00ef farming technique is done during the dry season, which was the opposite of the local practices. Other farmers would mock Sawadogo\u2019s efforts. But they were not laughing for long.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_14560\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14560\" style=\"width: 708px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-14560\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/03\/jj_1533_122100628.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"708\" height=\"388\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/03\/jj_1533_122100628.jpg 633w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/03\/jj_1533_122100628-600x329.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/03\/jj_1533_122100628-85x47.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 708px) 100vw, 708px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-14560\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/shenja.mk\/files\/jj_1533_122100628.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>Restoring the land<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">His hard work bore fruit. The area that was on the brink of becoming a desert was transformed into a forest. Sawadogo said that when he first used the technique, he was &#8220;<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">the only farmer from here to Mali who had any millet<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.&#8221; The neighboring farmers noticed his success and wanted to learn. While he could have kept the method to himself and cornered the market, he shared his knowledge with others. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>\u201cIf you stay in your own little corner, all your knowledge is of no use to humanity,\u201d he said.<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">He created a training program at his farm. Farmers studied his work and got quality seeds. They took the method back to their own farms, and the land began to regrow. <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>\u201cI want the training program to be the starting point for many fruitful exchanges across the region,\u201d Sawadogo explained.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Chris Reji, a natural resources management specialist with the Center for International Cooperation, was amazed at how the land had evolved.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>\u201cTens of thousands of hectares of land that was completely unproductive has been made productive again thanks to [Sawadogo\u2019s] techniques&#8230;\u201d he said.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_14561\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14561\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14561\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/03\/zai.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"700\" height=\"367\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/03\/zai.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/03\/zai-600x315.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/03\/zai-85x45.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-14561\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/flashguinee.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/zai.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/drought-south-africa\">SEE ALSO:\u00a0A Persistent Drought Is Causing Trouble In South Africa.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yacouba Sawadogo is a farmer from Burkina Faso. When desertification was threatening his home, he<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":14560,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[35],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Yacouba Sawadogo, The Farmer Who Stopped The Desert<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"His work was so effective that a documentary entitled \u201cThe Man Who Stopped the Desert\u201d was made.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/yacouba-sawadogo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yacouba Sawadogo, The Farmer Who Stopped The Desert\" 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