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Re-greening the Sahel: How shrubs and science can transform food security
FiBL Collaboration
Agroforestry in the Sahel: Five years of science, partnership and impact of the SustainSahel project
The Sahel is facing a perfect storm: erratic rainfall, degraded soils, rising temperatures, and growing populations with limited access to productive land. For generations, farmers have adapted to these conditions through innovation and resilience — but can traditional knowledge combined with rigorous science offer a genuine pathway to food security and thriving livelihoods?
For five years, the SustainSahel project set out to answer this question by investigating whether deliberately integrating shrubs and trees into crop and livestock systems could transform farming across West Africa. In this episode, we travel to Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso to understand what farming in the Sahel actually looks like, explore how agroforestry works in one of the world's most challenging climates, and meet the researchers and farmers who shaped a transdisciplinary research project in the face of COVID-19 and regional instability.
This is not just about planting trees — it's about reimagining how we produce food in a warming world, with evidence grounded in the realities of smallholder farming and co-designed with the communities who live there. Listen in as we lay the foundation for understanding how science and practice can converge to build more resilient, productive, and equitable food systems.
Written and narrated by: Lauren Dietemann, FiBL
Guests featured on the episode: Dr. Harun Cicek and Dr. Christian Grovermann, FiBL
Many thanks to: All SustainSahel project partners
Photo: Canva / Andreas Basler (FiBL)
Links:
https://www.sustainsahel.net/results-and-learning-materials.html
