How the Sahara Desert is Turning into a Farmland Oasis - GREENING THE DESERT PROJECT

the sahara is the largest desert in the world filling nearly all of northern africa it measures approximately 3 000 miles the sahara is boarded in the west by the atlantic ocean in the north by the atlas mountains in the mediterranean sea in the east by the red sea and in the south by the sahara the sahao forms a transitional zone between the sahara to the north and the belt of the humid savannas to the south in the semi-arid region of the sahel the advancement of the sahara desert continues to be a threat due to land management overgrazing and droughts in the region it's fast becoming completely desertified this land loss is a driver of many other problems such as hunger poverty unemployment forced migration conflict as well as an increased risk of extreme weather events however the country niger in the african sahara region has been making some astonishing agricultural developments turning large areas suffering from desertification into agricultural fields in niger 5 million hectares of land with over 200 million trees have been restored with 2.5 million people benefiting from the improved use of land this transformation can be called a major accomplishment for any country especially when a country only receives an average of 6.5 inches of rain for a year in this video we're going to tell you how and why niger is turning its deserts into huge farmlands so stick with us and let's dive in to today's video [Music] niger which is officially a republic is a landlocked country in west africa named after the niger river over 80 percent of its land area lies in the sahara desert those trying to grow crops in the sahel region are often faced with poor soil erratic rainfall and long periods of drought farmers faced significant tree losses in the 1970s and 80s as a result of drought the expansion of cropland and human pressure because few trees remained on the fields farmers often witnessed their newly planted crops being destroyed by the wind erosion africa is currently losing 4 million hectares of forest every year for this reason yet has more than 700 million hectares of degraded land viable for restoration by bringing degraded land back to life farmers do not have to clear additional forest land to turn it into cropland for africa's rising population and growing food demands 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 it helps combat climate change and brings technology to enhance traditional knowledge one of the main regenerative initiatives which is restoring 5 million hectares of land in niger is farm managed natural regeneration known as fmnr fmnr is a low-cost land restoration technique used to combat poverty and hunger amongst poor substance farmers by increasing food and timber production and resilience to climate extremes fmnr increases the productivity and resilience of crop fields and pasture lands in the challenging growing conditions of africa's sahara it is a technology that has proven amongst the most transformative of all fmnr started in 1983 in niger pioneered by tony ronaldo an australian agronomist who is widely known as the forest maker having lived and worked in african countries for several decades he has discovered and put into practice a solution to the extreme deforestation and desertification of the sahara region fmnr is a form of coppicing and pollarding drawing on traditional practices and sensitive to the local variations by choosing the right plants and pruning and protecting them in a certain way farmers can help them grow into trees with a simple set of management practices farmers can regenerate and protect existing local vegetation which has helped to improve the livelihoods of millions growing trees and forests in a sustainable way can restore degraded lands build resilience and help people and societies adapt to climate change protecting and enhancing forests are also an essential way to combat in climate change a forest can absorb about 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually fmnr technique is hugely successful compared to tree planting schemes which have a notoriously low success rate scarcely 10 of seedlings survive the heat and dust storms of niger and the surviving ones would be eaten by goats or cut down by people for firewood success came when tony ronaldo noticed that the millions of small bushes in the savannah were actually stumps of trees growing back the shoots from the new stumps just needed to be managed pruned and cared for in order to grow into a tree this is when tony ronaldo developed the concept of farmer managed natural regeneration fmnr a very simple set of actions that farmers can take to re-green their land first farmers survey the land and choose among the existing local species the right ones to regenerate second farmers select the few stems that they want to grow while cutting the rest to be used as fodder mulch or similar then the selected stems are pruned to half way of the trunk finally the farmer marks the regrowing trees and protects them the process is repeated every two to six months farmer managed natural regeneration became an enormous success in niger because of its simplicity local adaptability low cost about 20 usd per hectare easy combination with agricultural methods and quick results the methods spread through peer-to-peer learning among farmers with limited need for outside intervention in niger 5 million hectares of land with over 200 million trees have been restored this way with 2.5 million people benefiting from the improved use of land and at least 25 countries mainly in africa are already using this method what makes fmnr so important is the fact that it's using these natural techniques to solve agricultural issues instead of favoring more quick alternatives that use harmful chemicals a technique that tony ronaldo learned from a young age brings more destruction growing up in the agricultural region of the ovens valley in northern victoria tony felt worried about the environmentally destructive farming practices in his region at that time they were using planes to spray the crops tony ronaldo said that the chemicals would kill the fish in the stream and that they would also clear fell the native bush which he loved and they replaced it with monocultures of pines it's this unique experience that enabled tony to search for natural solutions when attempting to re-green the desert which creates long-term food security abundance and well for the local people instead of reaching for short-term quick rewards with chemical pesticide use that ultimately causes more destruction in the long run in recent years the un the eu and the charity oxfam have all been financially supporting the practice of fmnr in niger and in july 2020 niger became one of the first countries globally to adopt a presidential decree regulating and promoting the practice of fmnr this increases the adoption of fmnr by farmers and pastoralists the results of fmnr have been astounding arable land has almost doubled since the 1980s creating improved food security and better nutrition for millions of people increasing household gross incomes by an average of 18 to 24 environmental degradation and desertification have also been reversed across some 5 million hectares of land tree density has 10x since its all-time low in the 1980s around 200 million new trees have grown with a production value of over 260 million it's no surprise that this innovative yet simple technique is spreading all over africa and making positive changes to the environment and the people who live there that's it for today if you enjoyed this video make sure to smash the like if you want more content like this then hit the subscribe button with the bell notification on leaf of life is a small unpaid team creating solutions based content about sustainable and environmental problems the world is facing we rely on 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Channel: Leaf of Life

Views: 4,001,858

Keywords: regenerative agriculture, agriculture, desertification, desert farming, sustainability, regreening deserts, desert into forest, terraforming the sahara desert, desert into oasis, desert into fertile land, desert into farmland, regreening the desert with john d. liu, desert farming in saudi arabia, FMNR, niger, greening the desert, agriculture technology documentary, agriculture technology, tony rinaudo fmnr, greening the desert before and after, greening the desert africa

Id: QXQrvT23rPw

Length: 8min 30sec (510 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 13 2022

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[u/ScaphicLove]

In the African Sahel a country called Niger bordering the Sahara Desert, the largest desert in the world, is stopping desertification and turning is deserts into an Oasis.

Regenerative Agriculture is leading the way with a technique called Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration or FMNR

FMNR was pioneered in the 1980s by Tony Rinaudo and Australian Agronomist who is widely known as the forest maker. The innovative technique has been adopted by local farmers through peer to peer learning making it cost effective and easy to implement. Over the last 40 years the visual results and the data have shown FMNR has been extremely successful in turning desert into farmland. It has regenerated 5 million hectors of degraded land, 200 million trees have been restored and has benefited 2.5 million people increasing house hold income by 18-24% the available arable land has doubled since the severe droughts of the 1970s and tree density has 10x since its all time low in the 1980s.

This is an extraordinary achievement considering Niger only receives on average 6.5 inches of rainfall a year and 80% of the country is considered a desert. The country has been effected by severe droughts and suffered huge land loss over the last decades and as a consequence Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world. However Niger has been turning this around, by turning its deserts into a farmland oasis through the technique of FMNR which you will learn more about in this video.

[u/davesr25]

Very cool.

[u/Repulsive_Aspect_819]

So much for the kamel riders