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Photos: Senegalese plant circular gardens in a bid to defend desertification

Published on Jul 30, 2021 08:22 PM IST

Every night Moussa Kamara works at his bakery preparing hundreds of loaves but at sunrise, instead of going home to sleep, he now starts a second back-breaking job - hoeing the earth and tending newly sown seeds in a specially designed circular garden. He is part of a project that aims to create hundreds of such gardens - known as 'Tolou Keur' in Senegal's Wolof language - that organisers hope will boost food security, reduce regional desertification and engage thousands of community workers.

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An aerial view of participants of a Tolou Keur programme working on a newly built garden in Boki Diawe, within the Great Green Wall area, in Matam region, Senegal, on July 10, 2021. Gardens known as Tolou Keur hold plants and trees resistant to hot, dry climates, and are planted with circular beds that allow roots to grow inwards, trapping liquids and bacteria and improving water retention and composting.(Zohra Bensemra / REUTERS)

Published on Jul 30, 2021 08:22 PM IST

An aerial view of participants of a Tolou Keur programme working on a newly built garden in Boki Diawe, within the Great Green Wall area, in Matam region, Senegal, on July 10, 2021. Gardens known as Tolou Keur hold plants and trees resistant to hot, dry climates, and are planted with circular beds that allow roots to grow inwards, trapping liquids and bacteria and improving water retention and composting.(Zohra Bensemra / REUTERS)

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Thierno Com waters a tree that is struggling to grow at a Tolou Keur garden in Walalde department of Podor, part of the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel area, in Senegal, on July 11. "When you grow one tree, over 20 years people and animals will benefit from it," Moussa Kamara, a participant of the Tolou Keur programme told Reuters, whose commitment and hard work have earned him the role of garden caretaker.(Zohra Bensemra / REUTERS)

Published on Jul 30, 2021 08:22 PM IST

Thierno Com waters a tree that is struggling to grow at a Tolou Keur garden in Walalde department of Podor, part of the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel area, in Senegal, on July 11. "When you grow one tree, over 20 years people and animals will benefit from it," Moussa Kamara, a participant of the Tolou Keur programme told Reuters, whose commitment and hard work have earned him the role of garden caretaker.(Zohra Bensemra / REUTERS)

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Dry earth is pictured in a field that is part of the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel, on the outskirts of Walalde department, in Senegal on July 11. The project marks a new, more local approach to what is known as the Green Wall initiative, launched in 2007, that aims to slow desertification across Africa's Sahel region, the arid belt south of the Sahara Desert, by planting an 8,000-km line of trees from Senegal to Djibouti, Reuters reported.(Zohra Bensemra / REUTERS)

Published on Jul 30, 2021 08:22 PM IST

Dry earth is pictured in a field that is part of the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel, on the outskirts of Walalde department, in Senegal on July 11. The project marks a new, more local approach to what is known as the Green Wall initiative, launched in 2007, that aims to slow desertification across Africa's Sahel region, the arid belt south of the Sahara Desert, by planting an 8,000-km line of trees from Senegal to Djibouti, Reuters reported.(Zohra Bensemra / REUTERS)

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An aerial view of trees in the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel on the outskirts of Walalde department in Senegal, on July 11. According to United Nations estimates, The wider initiative has only managed to plant 4% of the pledged 100 million hectares of trees, and completing it by 2030, as planned, could cost up to $43 billion, Reuters reported.(Zohra Bensemra / REUTERS)

Published on Jul 30, 2021 08:22 PM IST

An aerial view of trees in the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel on the outskirts of Walalde department in Senegal, on July 11. According to United Nations estimates, The wider initiative has only managed to plant 4% of the pledged 100 million hectares of trees, and completing it by 2030, as planned, could cost up to $43 billion, Reuters reported.(Zohra Bensemra / REUTERS)

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Ibrahima Samba Diop, 75, who is one of the beneficiary's of a Tolou Keur garden, checks plants, within the Great Green Wall target area in Kanel, Matam region, Senegal, on July 13. By contrast, the 'Tolou Keur' gardens have flourished in the seven months since the project began and now number around two dozen, Senegal's reforestation agency told Reuters.(Zohra Bensemra / REUTERS)

Published on Jul 30, 2021 08:22 PM IST

Ibrahima Samba Diop, 75, who is one of the beneficiary's of a Tolou Keur garden, checks plants, within the Great Green Wall target area in Kanel, Matam region, Senegal, on July 13. By contrast, the 'Tolou Keur' gardens have flourished in the seven months since the project began and now number around two dozen, Senegal's reforestation agency told Reuters.(Zohra Bensemra / REUTERS)

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A camel eats from a tree in the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel, on the outskirts of Walalde department, in Senegal, on July 11. The gardens hold plants and trees resistant to hot, dry climates, including papaya, mango, moringa and sage. Circular beds allow roots to grow inwards, trapping liquids and bacteria and improving water retention and composting.(Zohra Bensemra / REUTERS)

Published on Jul 30, 2021 08:22 PM IST

A camel eats from a tree in the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel, on the outskirts of Walalde department, in Senegal, on July 11. The gardens hold plants and trees resistant to hot, dry climates, including papaya, mango, moringa and sage. Circular beds allow roots to grow inwards, trapping liquids and bacteria and improving water retention and composting.(Zohra Bensemra / REUTERS)

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Children carry wood that was collected for cooking, as they walk past a newly built Tolou Keur garden in Boki Diawe, within the Great Green Wall area, in Matam region, Senegal, on July 10. The gardens are partly a response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Senegal shut its borders early last year to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus, cutting imports and exposing rural communities' dependence on foreign food and medicines.(Zohra Bensemra / REUTERS)

Published on Jul 30, 2021 08:22 PM IST

Children carry wood that was collected for cooking, as they walk past a newly built Tolou Keur garden in Boki Diawe, within the Great Green Wall area, in Matam region, Senegal, on July 10. The gardens are partly a response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Senegal shut its borders early last year to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus, cutting imports and exposing rural communities' dependence on foreign food and medicines.(Zohra Bensemra / REUTERS)

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Members of a nomadic tribe travel in the Barkedji-Dodji Forest, part of the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel in Linguere department, Louga region, Senegal, on July 14. "The day people realise the full potential of the Great Green Wall, they will stop these dangerous migration routes where you can lose your life at sea," Kamara told Reuters. "It's better to stay, work the soil, cultivate and see what you can earn."(Zohra Bensemra / REUTERS)

Published on Jul 30, 2021 08:22 PM IST

Members of a nomadic tribe travel in the Barkedji-Dodji Forest, part of the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel in Linguere department, Louga region, Senegal, on July 14. "The day people realise the full potential of the Great Green Wall, they will stop these dangerous migration routes where you can lose your life at sea," Kamara told Reuters. "It's better to stay, work the soil, cultivate and see what you can earn."(Zohra Bensemra / REUTERS)

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