Bringing degraded African land back to life

Bringing degraded African land back to life

Farming in the Sahel region of Africa isn’t easy. It’s an area that suffers from degraded soils, erratic rainfall and is often subject to long periods of drought. For that reason, farmland is often very hard, making it difficult for farmers to plant seeds and for crops to flourish. But new technology can reduce this burden for farmer and help restore land for future generations. When Moctar Sacande, Coordinator of FAO’s Action Against Desertification programme, talks about restoring land in Africa, the passion in his voice is evident. “Restoring degraded land back to productive good health is a huge opportunity for Africa. It brings big social and economic benefits to rural farming communities,” he says. “It’s a bulwark against climate change and it brings technology to enhance traditional knowledge.” The Delfino plough Luckily, there is a piece of technology that can aid farmers who are dealing with tough farming conditions and restore farmland: the Delfino plough. FAO brought this state-of-the art heavy digger to the Sahel region as part of FAO’s Action Against Desertification (AAD) programme, using it to cut through impacted, bone-dry soil to a depth of more than half a metre. Four Delfinos have been introduced into four