Faces of Africa - The Sahara

we journey across the dunes in the sweltering sands of the Sahara to bring you stories of struggle survival and hope from one of the harshest environments on the planet [Music] join us as we explore how climate change is affecting Africa's largest desert [Music] the Sahara one of the harshest environments on the planet dry hot and desolate the Sahara stretches for nine million square kilometers covering much of North Africa varying from seas of dunes to sculpted sandstone plateaus it can be a vast and merciless environment yet for centuries people have survived across the sun-baked plains the nomads of the sahara masters of resilience and efficiency and adaptation we've traveled about 600 kilometres from nock shot to the capital of Mauritania to find them nomads who roam the Sahara now we're just nearing the Agra region where we'll hopefully meet with some goat herders who'll tell us about life in this challenging landscape [Music] at the heart of nomad life is animals ensuring their survival shaped this community's existence so valuable they are to know mags that they're often referred to as blood wealth DD's day begins at sunrise [Music] in her suit so began the district humiliated to universal after getting help when didi and his herd walk a path guided by seemingly distinct landmarks now mapped by memory back at the camp the woman get to work nomads are skilled in making necessities from what they have [Music] from goats milk to butter nothing goes to waste and there's time to spare for some fun [Music] as the morning heat intensifies Dede and his goats arrive at a nearby well a water source that sustains all life here and will ultimately determine when it's time to move King get them changing weather patterns have not gone unnoticed as the Sahara encroaches into previously fertile areas with erratic rainfall a consequence of climate change would make the agreement command away at Academy Master if the rains fail or a well dries up nomads resorts to digging a task that may take hours or even days [Music] yeah you know with the bottle it nobody tempted I wanna socialism but I knew he said bitterly in the face of unrelenting Sun and sand nomads life has always been hard and continues to be for merit Aeneas remaining two hundred thousand nomads deedy says modern things would make life easier especially when nature is not on your side London with EQ which I did not had a human with the waning or didn't have to [Music] for centuries nomads have migrated across the Sahara but only in search of water but from unrelenting Saharan sands [Music] the ancient town of chin Getty nestled between the Magnificent dunes of the Sahara and forever at the mercy of the sand it's constant struggle with the desert has left much of the old town buried or abandoned [Music] but remains today is only what lies on higher ground once world renowned for its libraries of ancient Islamic texts the guardians of Qin Gettys remaining treasures still rise each day to stop them becoming the next casualties of the desert crystal part which Marla Mustapha [Music] [Music] the Ahmed library contains of Islamic and African scholarship from the heat I'm innocent of the movie dick is a heart of other than a year - still we say the answer I come from very magnetic stripe under humanity in the world had hired he had hired happy with the help tab to Bandra with tear gas the material non-motor Hector [Music] lacking sophisticated technology Saif has found other ways to care for the delicate books can't to build a well in public attention say interested in with REM with chin Getty was founded in 777 and by the 11th century had become a cross Saharan center of commerce connecting sub-saharan Africa to the Mediterranean ageing nomads recall how they forefathers crossed the desert for centuries [Music] [Music] Paleolithic evidence suggests that the area around chin Getty has been occupied for thousands of years rock art found nearby caves indicate that the land was once a grassy savanna where giraffe roamed alongside the local people and their cattle but over the centuries the shifting sands of the Sahara have forced gianetti's residents to twice move and rebuild the town on higher ground these are the stone walls of one of the oldest houses in Chang Getty built in the 13th century but like much of this old town it's under threat in fact this is not the original door that one lies about three metres below the sand via a tremendous upper this bomb is also a minute yet at least initially - off with a generator here I'd rather get a chicken in a circle cam 2 0 but a tricky do tamarod dr hatun dr dr I'm not here the umbrella dr benefit return 0 he let me give machine attend we ceremony and medina salad even deserve a draw her an acolyte amid the Shapiro so should deny him no idea most of what sustained Chang Getty in the past has now faded leaving the town to an uncertain future [Music] even the god is pathetic you need to measure very good woman is our nation was Tamara listen I get emotional in transmission guilty yes the residents of ginger tea struggle against the unrelenting Saharan sands every day there is no grand plan to halt the ever encroaching desert and the fear persists that without a resurgence and tourism or trade there won't be enough resources available to build a fourth Jannetty if or when the time comes the Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world with temperatures easily soaring to 50 degrees finding water sources often in unlikely places is the only reason humans and animals have survived here for centuries in the desert water means life tearsheet Oasis is one of Mauritania desert wonders neatly nestled between the desert dunes and the rocky plateaus of the addre region for thousands of years water has filtered through the steep cliffs emerging at the sandy base of the palm light Gorge Jamal is a descendant of the early nomads who made desert their home in the 14th century Elam honesty's Saudi decry hodge kamikochi the National Guard in my garage even higher on that window to see the other stone sheesh Marion Jamal's forefathers planted the first date palms here today the abundant plantation gives the Oasis its iconic look and the water continues to keep the plants alive through Jamal's simple but effective irrigation system the nomadic in nearby sedentary communities in the aedra region have come to depend on tarried Oasis Korea Calandra Menken I am second to Eric Young a reliable source of water is a rare thing in the Sahara and people and animals make the most of it when they can here in northeastern Chad these camels are returning from a week in the sands and there is only one thing on their minds [Music] camels are extremely well adapted to life in the desert they can go over a week without water and for months without food their eyes noses and feet are tailored for desert conditions and of course there's that famous fat storm the shade and water at gelt Adarsh a allows the camels to bath and refresh and provides a unique location for learning to swim but such places are few and far between just 300 kilometres south from here is a desert community which isn't so fortunate sixty five-year-old am near Bashar our med is among the first residence of Arica Soni a refugee camp in the desert her journey into the desolate Sahel is marked with scars both emotional and physical not even forgotten of mallow one in a few eat her Agha blue only Jaron I didn't are missing we let the Alpha solid an opinion from dia in the reservist DNA Finland is not hurtful of Anna Kournikova Karen I can imagine he would the Koala not hold it despite the frequent sandstorms and the oppressive heat the camp's population has swelled to over twenty seven thousand five hundred people all of whom fled violence and conflict in neighbouring Darfur Sudan just seven kilometers from the camp the risk of insecurity overlooked in favor of proximity to a sustainable water source in the early days clean drinkable water was difficult to come by but that has since changed here in Chad survival comes down to ingenuity this water source is completely man-made an artificial lake that supports the lives of over 30,000 people in the desert karaoke lake is the source of life for Orica sauna refugee camp and the small rural community that surrounds it NGOs assisted by refugees take parts in a daily struggle to provide camp inhabitants with enough water roughly 15 liters per person per day 5 litres a day less than the UN recommended amounts more an area highly Amina later our local Saharan armor for um Nair and the rest of her fellow refugees the water in the camp has allowed them to eke out a simple yet sustainable existence away from the horrors of the past becomes you know cut through the body is happening believe you know so Cara yesterday we know min-seok develop al-quran I mean you know for the hotel was under has taken to educating the children she cares for about preserving water this is the Sahel thousands of kilometres of dry arid earth an ancient battle ground between man and the desert bordering the sahara desert sands are silently engulfing the region destroying fertile land and displacing vulnerable communities in the process but they are those fighting back these are unlikely heroes men and women at the forefront of the Green Revolution who may just secure the future livelihoods of millions Colonel Papa Wally gay leads the fight against desertification in northern Senegal a useful directeur général de la Esmeralda Legrand amira ever to deliver an effective model agronomy rival dozen sigma senegal keep a sense occurrence anchormen brontosaur to me sunday practice you don't get that these trees are the first line of defense against a certification stretching from Dakar to Djibouti the great Greenwald initiative is an ambitious project that aims to halt desertification by planting 11 million hectares of trees across the width of Africa wait Senegal Newsome MP trace expose or free Mandela desertification Pisco Musa wall a popper a trance ink mill act our case undergrad a para a silikal Latin Arab our acoustic a Tron team elector don't laugh or the Google Ramallah Senegal say that they'll push through post Ashoka the degradation reducing that degradation is crucial to improving the lives of the semi-nomadic communities that live in this harsh environment ibrahim ADEA whare the principle of the local school has witnessed how the loss of land drives poverty unemployment and forced migration the cola over support a pre calc is an opera it will be the Fermi boom no problem machinery CCL autonomous wdy awake sailor sailor the key logicians this can you see the population his own inner purity said Zidane is an email me Noel Asafa so we saw visited irregular para Luciana polymerized retinol is alpha Cesar memo Lucilla liqueur belladonna for collateral equality firm a city and emesis the Sahel has always been a hard place to survive and the green wall initiative is expanded from tree planting to include education and action on petal and use linear algebra ii Inez would be Africa la costura a parcel our children say lesson key deterrence Plissken tsukino countries in polkadot umbrella for a analyst padre shows sassy does MCAS principales asthma climatic yeah play a CD pulley in feet ratio loom Ilyas Allegra salut see say in Costa the Sahel lies between the Sahara and the African savanna it is one of the most threatened regions when it comes to climate change but some communities like the woman in this village have found a way to fight back my munis na commands respect quietly leading an environmental revolution her army a band of women their weapons spades and hoes the woman of kweli alpha are pioneering new approaches to land use they are preparing arable land for planting season by harvest this community will enjoy fruits and vegetables never grown here before I mean a la commune doneger a mirror yes color Candido hand in there or hey the woman's agricultural production has boosted food security and generated employment their success has meant that instead of migrating to find new pastures for their animals they can stay in the village year-round I mean Jahannam in so they lose my swimming that Daniela turned and Akutan bar I dunno welcome sir minion Vedanta I mean Museum hand having car chuckling mmm who grande Amira appear me the permit was an emu Kela de l'avenir miss calivita arrow positive news a woman this was who this animal Conway pada pivot on the peak current am akiza and train de l'avenir Mela population you see agony beaucoup dance example disco compose LEDs a year left the level novembre trans amaz laser forest unless the Cornish me now more than a hundred and forty two children are enrolled in Ibrahim as school and he's proud to help them develop and grow to give something back to the community a person for example kikiki de la locality ki ki ki adalat arsenal administrative john del ataque isola don't overkill not as far as I could do mine doesn't fit with proportion because he's on falala this would be no post on Papa gay believes the battle to reclaim the lands of the Sahel is one he and the community he serves can win my dollar major theoretical is a sermon mana morn experience the strategy Dharma a transfer mengapa attackee Mapleton Lee if the world continues to do little to reverse the effects of manmade climate change the battle with the desert will intensify the successful start of the great green wall initiative in Senegal provides a valuable lesson for other vulnerable communities across the continent [Music] [Music] [Music] you

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Views: 1,601,424

Rating: 4.7833877 out of 5

Keywords: Africa, News, CGTN Africa, The Sahara

Id: LMHfYnS65w0

Length: 29min 38sec (1778 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 03 2017