Africa Community

In this CLP interview, I share insights on innovative drought resilience efforts. I discuss traditional techniques like Zai pits and Half Moons, as well as transforming invasive aquatic plants into valuable resources for local agriculture.

𝑾𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏, 𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑨𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝑨𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂

Desertification affects a large part of Africa and threatens food security, water resources, and the livelihoods of millions of people. Yet, at the heart of this struggle, one essential actor stands out : women.

𝑮𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅
In Africa, women produce up to 70% of local food. They cultivate, fetch water, preserve seeds, and know the soil better than anyone. This close relationship with nature places them on the front lines against the effects of drought and land degradation.

𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔
Across the continent, women-led initiatives are transforming the fight against desertification:
• tree planting and agroforestry,
• farming techniques that retain water and restore soils,
• transforming invasive plants into organic compost, biochar, and biogas,
• turning local plants into income sources (honey, moringa, soap).
These actions revive the land and ensure the food security of communities.

𝑶𝒃𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆
Despite their central role, women rarely own the land they cultivate (less than 20% in sub-Saharan Africa). They also have less access to finance and training.

𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏?
Studies show that giving women the same land rights and resources as men could reduce global hunger by 12 to 17% (FAO and Action Against Hunger). This demonstrates how crucial their involvement is for a sustainable future.

In conclusion, women are pillars of resilience in the fight against desertification. By granting them more resources, rights, and recognition, we not only strengthen the battle against land degradation but also promote social justice and safeguard the future of generations to come.

Hello Colleagues, My name is Yusuf Abdi Maalim, A Somali National. Am climate resilience expert based in the Horn of Africa. Am currently PhD program with University for Peace on Land Degredation and Desertification (LDD). Am currently serving as Senior Technical Advisor in the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MoAI) and also a program Director with SADAR Development & Resilience Institute based in Mogadishu, Somalia. SADAR Institute is currently implementing GEF & GAFSP funded program on Adaptive Agriculture and Rangeland rehabilitation program in Somalia.

hello everyone,

My name is Walid Madi, and I’m from Tunisia.
I am a forest and spatial planning engineer with a degree in Geo-information for Environmental Management. I’ve recently been admitted to the Master's program in Nature Conservation at the Faculty of Forestry, University of Sopron in Hungary.

My interests focus on forest ecology, remote sensing, and the sustainable management of natural resources. I’m glad to join this community and look forward to learning from your experiences and sharing my own.

Thank you!
Madi Walid

Biological Soil Crust (BSC), also known as biocrust is a living, thin layer of soil surface composed of communities of microorganisms such as cyanobacteria, algae, lichens, mosses, fungi, and other microbes, tightly bound with soil particles. These crusts play a vital ecological role in arid and semi-arid environments by stabilizing soil surfaces, reducing erosion, enhancing water retention, fixing atmospheric nitrogen, and facilitating seed germination. They improve soil fertility and structure by increasing organic matter and microbial diversity. Biocrusts are particularly important in fragile ecosystems where vegetation cover is sparse, acting as a protective layer that sustains soil health and biodiversity. However, they are highly sensitive to disturbance and take years or even decades to recover once damaged.

https://www.bosai-jp.org/en/solution/detail/89/order_list
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360438331_Biological_soil_crus…

Combating Desertification in Africa : Zainer’s Contribution to SDG 15 (Life on Land)

Zainer is a low-cost machine for climate resilient agriculture in arid and semi-arid regions.

The Zainer is a vertical soil drill, mounted on a two wheeled cart and powered by a small 5hp petrol engine. Excavated soil is deposited on the down-stream side of the Zaï pit to make sure that run-off water from the field is directed into the pit for local infiltration. The design of the Zainer has been optimized for fuel efficiency and drilling speed to minimize the operational costs for the farmer.
Operating the Zainer can be comfortably done by both female and male farmers. Depending on the soil conditions, farmers are able to produce up to 17 Zaï plantholes per minute and 1 ha of land can be prepared within 5 days (compared to 300 hours of labor for manual Zaï). The drill bit can easily be replaced and be adapted to different soil conditions and desired plant hole dimensions.
Due to climate change, rainfall patterns in Africa have become less predictable. As a result, African farmers are experiencing production losses for their main rainfed crops. This climate instability, combined with increasing land degradation linked to desertification, poses a serious risk to food security and family incomes, particularly for smallholder farmers.
Indigenous conservation and regenerative agriculture practices can largely mitigate these risks and help combat desertification, but farmers consider these traditional practices too labor-intensive and economically unviable.
Affordable mechanization of climate-smart agricultural practices can overcome these drawbacks. An organization called Practica has therefore initiated the development of a simple tool to quickly and inexpensively produce small basins or pits for local rainwater retention. This tool is called "Zaïner," in reference to the traditional West African practice of creating small planting holes, called Zaï.
This innovative tool aims to strengthen the resilience of soils and farmers in the face of desertification and climate change.

The man who stopped the desert : Yacouba Sawadogo

“For turning barren land into forest and demonstrating how farmers can regenerate their soil with innovative use of indigenous and local knowledge.”

Yacouba Sawadogo (1946-2023) was known as “the man who stopped the desert”. Starting around 1980 during a phase of severe drought, he successfully created an almost 40-hectare forest on formerly barren and abandoned land. Today, it has more than 60 species of trees and bushes and is arguably one of the most diverse forests planted and managed by a farmer in the Sahel.

Sawadogo’s remarkable success builds on experimenting with traditional planting pits for soil, water and biomass retention, called “zaï” in the local language. He continued innovating the technique over the years, increasing crop yields and successfully planting trees. Despite facing resistance from locals in the beginning – Sawadogo was called a “madman” and saw his forest set on fire – he never considered giving up. Over time, people came to admire his work.

Always eager to share his knowledge, Sawadogo trained thousands of visitors from the region and beyond, and empowered farmers to regenerate their land. As a result, tens of thousands of hectares of degraded land have been restored to productivity in Burkina Faso and Niger. Those who adopt Sawadogo’s techniques often become food secure, as zaï help to conserve rainwater and improve soil fertility. Trees planted together with the crops serve to enrich the soil, produce fodder for livestock and create business opportunities like beekeeping. This helps farmers adapt to climate change, reduce rural poverty and prevent local resource and water-related conflicts.

Hello everyone!
What a pleasure to be part of this inspiring community!
I'm Dieudonne Ilboudo, a water and environment specialist currently working at the General Office of Agropastoral Development and Irrigation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animals and Fisheries Resources of Burkina Faso.
My work focuses on sustainable water resource management, soil conservation, land reclamation, and environmental preservation. I have over four years of experience in community projects promoting climate change adaptation, integrated water resource management, and the development of rice-growing lowlands.
I recently led initiatives on the management of invasive aquatic plants, transforming them into valuable resources such as compost and biochar to support local agriculture and the circular economy. I am passionate about drought resilience (Zai and Half-Moon Techniques) and ethical, inclusive, and innovative approaches to natural resource governance, and I strive to integrate local knowledge and community participation into all aspects of my work.
I look forward to learning, collaborating, and contributing to this dynamic network !

Dear community,

I am Moussa from Morocco.
I work as a research assistant and consultant in rural developement. My research and operational project focus on water harvesting and GIAHS (Globally Important Agriculture Heritage System) based on Argan tree in the Souss Massa region.

I am happy to join this community to learn together.
Thank you

Moussa Ait el kadi

Bonjour à tous, je souhiterais vous faire partager la technologie BIOTEROX qui est un HYDRO-RÉTENTEUR-FERTILISANT support de culture 100 % compatible avec la
protection des ressources d’eau et de la biodiversité.
Un produit répondant aux besoins cruciaux des agriculteurs dans un contexte de
crise environnementale accrue : « Augmenter la productivité des récoltes en
réalisant des économies d’eau et d’engrais, et tout en limitant l’impact de
l’agriculture dans l’environnement .
Son action : préserve les plantes du stress hydrique
sans gaspiller l’eau et apporte une dose optimale
d’engrais, sans polluer les sols et les cours d’eau.
Le support de culture BIOTEROX permet de cultiver en zone désertique, aride ou
affectée par la sécheresse ; de réparer les terres dégradées ; d’augmenter le
rendement des cultures et de réduire drastiquement l’utilisation d’engrais et
pesticides.
Bénéfices :
Jusqu’à 60 % d’économies d’eau : BIOTEROX absorbe l’eau quelle que soit sa
provenance (irrigation, arrosage, pluie, rosée, humidité naturelle du sol...). Cette eau
reste stockée et est libérée par pompage racinaire, en fonction des besoins
progressifs des plantes.
BIOTEROX est économique, il se régénère en captant les eaux souterraines et
tous les nutriments et minéraux dans les sols.