Yakuba can neither read nor write. He does not know exactly how old he is and does not speak French, he uses the dialect of his people to communicate with foreigners. In the distant 80s, when a terrible drought called the Sahel came to his land, all the greenery disappeared, trees died, and the earth turned into a crust, people began to leave in search of food, but he stayed because "his father is buried here."
Yakuba did not watch TV and therefore he had no idea of the scale of the disaster. The Sahel covered vast expanses in 4 African countries, rainfall decreased by up to 20%, vast expanses of savannah turned into a desert, which caused millions of deaths from hunger. Scientists claim that these are the consequences of artificial climate change that began in the middle of the twentieth century. But Yakuba Savadago did not know about this, he just continued to make holes and plant seeds using the ancient "zai" technique, which he improved a little in the process. He expanded the wells in order to collect more moisture for the root system, but the most important innovation, according to him, was the addition of manure with straw and planted termites, which with their moves made the soil porous, loose, capable of retaining more water. He did this in advance, before the onset of sowing during the dry season. His peers ridiculed this practice because it seemed wasteful and stupid.Opponents of the African's methods, the kafirs (tribal leaders) forbade the peasants to listen to Yakuba, as this contradicts traditions. In the end, the kafirs set fire to Yakuba's plantings, but, of course, he did not give up, he started all over again and now his merits are recognized by everyone, and we remember that a mistake remains a mistake, even if the majority is mistaken.
Time passed, and Yakuba's experiments were crowned with success: the yield began to increase. Together with the seeds of millet and sorghum, trees began to sprout, they appeared thanks to the seeds contained in the manure. Year after year, the trees grew, increasing the yield of millet and sorghum, as well as restoring the viability of degraded soil. Yakuba grew a real garden, then a forest, then many hectares of forests.
Years later, Yakuba Savadogo became the hero of the documentary "The Man who Stopped the Desert", filmed by 1080 Films and first shown on UK television screens in the spring of 2010.
