Sitan is transforming her farm in the heart of Africa’s Great Green Wall.

The long-deteriorating conditions of the Sahel region prompted the Great Green Wall movement in the 1970’s. More recently, the African Union has relaunched the initiative to halt the spread of the Sahara Desert through the Sahel region and restore degraded lands for the benefit of people, economies, and the planet. The goal is to restore 100 million hectares of land (from Senegal to Sudan) with trees and plants that also benefit the people living in these impoverished regions.

Extreme temperatures, extended periods of drought, and desertification are making it increasingly more difficult for farmers like Sitan Camara to make a living on their land.

Agroforestry nonprofit Trees for the Future (TREES) is contributing to the movement by training farmers like Sitan in a sustainable agroforestry approach called Forest Gardening.

“We have received technical training on the production of vegetable crops, compost, and the control of crop pests,” Sitan says of her training. “Especially the seeds and work materials received from [TREES] allowed us to produce better than before.”

Sitan joined TREES’ training program in July of 2021. With guidance from local TREES staff, she and her husband identified a one hectare stretch of their land to establish a Forest Garden. At the time, the parcel of land had 250 trees on it. Today, there are more than 1,100 trees growing in the same space.