Fighting Poverty and Securing Livelihoods in the Sahel through better Management of the Environment
We’ve all heard about the Sahel: totally dry and nothing will grow there. At the climate summit in Cancún, measures to fight desertification in Africa were on the agenda. But a surprising fact is that the desert isn't advancing steadily south as we imagine; desert areas are in fact decreasing. Nieuwsuur went to Mali to check this out. (To view video, click on white triangle in screen; it will take around 30 secs to get started)
SALIF:Here, look around. Trees everywhere.
Ten years ago there was nothing
here. It was like a desert. Since then we've let the trees grow, our land has
now turned green
VOICE OVER: Without any outside help farmers in the Sahel, south of the Sahara, have created many millions hectares of woodland. Many times bigger than the Netherlands. In the town of Bankass, Mali, it was all dry (barren) ten years ago. The desert was close by. But local farmers are now proud of what they have acoomplished.
SALIF: When we started in 1999 there was not a single tree in this
area.
It looked like a desert. Farmers from other villages told us we had
to protect the trees. It would be better for the crops. Now we all do that
VOICE OVER: Mary Allen Ballo is an environmental scientist. She has lived and worked in Mali for 25 years. She was one of the first people to discover/champion the green revolution
MARY on field explaining (...germinated....bye bye desert)
HEIN STAND UP: Also at this climate summit in Cancún, desertification is a major theme. Is the Sahara advancing and is Africa changing into a big sandy dune? Here in the middle of the Sahel, scene of terrible famines in the 70s and 80s, it has been raining more in the past ten years and it has become greener since. Is the advancing Sahara a myth?
QUESTION Hein to Mary: is the Sahara growing?
QUOTE HOESSEINI on market talking about millet
MARY on field of grain/millet........they don't need water...
SALIF It was explained on the radio. There were even competitions about the number of trees farmers had. Farmers from all over came to see our approach. That's how our message was spread for thousands of kilometers
QUOTE HOESSEINI "très grand solution...."
VOICE OVER Worldwide this solution for battling desertification has gone unnoticed and so 11 African governments are now collecting money for building a Great Green Wall. Price: a couple of billions
QUOTE Prof Dia standing in front of a map of Africa explaining the route of the Great Green Wall
MARY with four farmers by her side..'the great green wall...'
VOICE OVER experts think the Great Green Wall is not a very good idea. 80 % of the planted trees will die so this will not work, they say
QUOTE Prof Dia 'C'est un project faisable'
MARY politicians love planting trees...
SALIF
I heard about the Great Green Wall
It'll never work. Waste of
time.
Planting trees is a lot of work. Most will die. They're not strong
enough.
It's much better to let the trees grow that God has given us