From Burkina Faso to the outer limits of Saharan dunes, an inspiring voice is heard. It is Yacouba Sawadogo, who devoted himself to planting trees at the edges of deserts and in 2019, was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, an alternative Nobel Prize.
When everything seemed hopeless in the early '80s, with a terrible drought and famine killing hundreds of thousands of people, Sawadogo chose to farm his land. By reusing the traditional farming technique called Zaï and taking up once more the legacy of his own family, the "Rain Makers," he resuscitated life in his village as a green oasis.
Yacouba Sawadogo, an inspiring man renowned for his labors, also received the 2020 Champions of the Earth Award.