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Transcript/ScriptUSAGM SHARE
((PLAYBOOK SLUG: BURKINA FASO GREEN WALL (TVPKG)
HEADLINE: Burkina Faso’s Baobab Tree Entrepreneur Rewilding the Sahel
TEASER: The Great Green Wall Project has come under criticism in recent years, but many still believe it essential to development in the Sahel
PUBLISHED AT: 2/21/22 AT 8:15AM
BYLINE: Henry Wilkins
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Southwest Burkina Faso
VIDEOGRAPHER: Henry Wilkins
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: dj, MAS
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, Zoom
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 3:14
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO)) The inspiration for Africa's "Great Green Wall" project, to plant trees across the continent to hold back the Sahara Desert, came partly from Burkina Faso. While the project faces challenges and criticism, it still has champions who are teaching the next generation the importance of planting trees. Henry Wilkins reports from Burkina Faso.
((NARRATOR))
In the arid savannah of Burkina Faso’s countryside, for decades local people have understood the importance of planting trees to protect their livelihoods and hold back the encroaching desert.
Few more so than El Hadji Salifou Ouedraogo, who has run a business planting and nurturing the famous baobab trees for more than forty years.
((El Hadji Salifou Ouedraogo, Baobab Entrepreneur (in Moore)))
“At the beginning it was mangoes that I produced but I realized very quickly that many people already did that. So, having a baobab at home and having noticed that people came to the house all the time to ask for the baobab leaves for food, I thought to myself why not produce it in large numbers? It would help people a lot.”
((NARRATOR))
The baobab trees’ fruit, leaves and bark are used by some Burkinabe people as an important food source and for medicinal purposes.
But Thomas Sankara, the country’s president from 1983-1987 and a national hero for many in Burkina Faso, envisioned planting the baobab and all kinds of trees across the continent.
He once said, “Step by step, tree by tree, we will create this great park of 10 million trees.”
Some say Sankara was the inspiration for the U.N. and World Bank funded Great Green Wall – a projected 8,000 kilometer-long band of trees stretching across the southern edge of the Sahara desert from the east of Africa to the west.
Backers claim it will also help fight the effects of climate change, drought, famine, conflict and migration.
But critics say after 15 years, the project is only 4 percent complete with just 10 years left before its completion deadline.
((Mandatory Courtesy: Zoom))
((Giorgio Vacchiano, University of Milan Associate Professor (in English, ??secs))
“I can see three different kinds of problems. One, from the social point of view, obviously from the implementation point of view and then the ecological consequences and feasibility. The territory that is going to be planted with trees is currently a conflict area, either with traditional military conflicts or with terrorism.”
((NARRATOR))
But nonprofit groups say the project is making gains and uniting communities.
((Mandatory Courtesy: Zoom))
((Rémi Hemeryck, SOS Sahel Executive Director (in English, ?? secs))
“So, we have been working on the ground, mostly with rural communities, rehabilitating land and forest and also empowering local communities to get involved into the economic system, so we really believe that the Great Green Wall is one of the solutions for the Sahel region.”
((NARRATOR))
Ouedraogo's son, who is taking on the family business, believes tree planting is essential for the future too.
((Amadou Ouédraogo, Baobab Entrepreneur (in French, ??secs)))
“I accompany [my father] on all possible terrains and he tells me how to take care of the trees and particularly the baobabs, which are a symbol of Africa.”
((NARRATOR))
He also said it’s important to save nature because - in his words - “saving nature is saving the life of man.”
((Henry Wilkins, for VOA News, Southwest Burkina Faso))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateFebruary 21, 2022 08:32 EST
BylineHenry Wilkins
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
