Niger's farmers who let the trees grow back
In southern Niger, farmers began protecting and pruning tree stumps that resprouted in their fields, regreening millions of hectares of farmland at very low cost.
One problem. Many solutions.
Soil degradation
How do farmers bring tired land back to life?
Different communities face the same problem and find different answers, shaped by their own resources, knowledge and context. No approach here is presented as the right one for everywhere.
Side by side
| Who | Where | How it started | Scale | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farmers of Maradi and Zinder, with agronomist Tony Rinaudo | Maradi, Niger | Instead of clearing every shoot from their fields, farmers chose a few stems growing from old tree stumps, pruned them and protected them so they could grow back into trees. | Regional | Documented |
What can they learn from one another? Read the "Copy this" section of each story to compare materials, costs and risks.