Thierno Com waters a tree that is struggling to grow at a Tolou Keur garden in Walalde department of Podor, in an area that is part of the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel area, in Senegal, July 11, 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. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
A camel eats from a tree in an area that is part of the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel, on the outskirts of Walalde department, in Senegal, July 11, 2021. The Green Wall Initiative was launched in 2007 with aims to slow desertification across Africa's Sahel region, the arid belt south of the Sahara Desert, by planting a line of trees from Senegal to Djibouti. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Moussa Kamara, 47, a baker and a Tolou Keur garden caretaker, listens to project manager Karine Fakhoury, who works at the reforestation agency, at a newly built Tolou Keur garden in Boki Diawe, within the Great Green Wall area, Matam region, Senegal, July 12, 2021. Fakhoury said it was important that local people felt fully engaged: "This is not an external project, where somebody comes from outside and tells people what to do. It is something entirely indigenous," he said. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Moussa Kamara, 47, a baker and a Tolou Keur garden caretaker, prepares to plant a tree at a newly built Tolou Keur garden, which holds 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, in Boki Diawe, within the Great Green Wall area in Matam region, Senegal, July 12, 2021. Kamara 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. "This project is incredibly important," said Kamara. "When you grow one tree, over 20 years people and animals will benefit from it." REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Moussa Kamara, 47, a baker and a Tolou Keur garden caretaker, shows a sketch of a Tolou Keur garden, which holds 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, as he speaks to journalists whilst sitting with his family members in a courtyard at his house in Boki Diawe, within the Great Green Wall area, in Matam region, Senegal, July 12, 2021. Kamara 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. "This project is incredibly important," said Kamara. "When you grow one tree, over 20 years people and animals will benefit from it."REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
A Fulani nomadic tribe member sits on a cart as she travels in the Barkedji-Dodji Forest, an area which is part of the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel, in Linguere department, Louga region, Senegal, July 14, 2021. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Senegalese agricultural engineer Aly Ndiaye, who is the head of the training and green sectors division at the eco-villages department of the Senegalese Agency for Reforestation and the Great Green Wall, waters trees at a newly built Tolou Keur garden, in Boki Diawe, within the Great Green Wall area, Matam region, Senegal, 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. Ndiaye stressed the importance of "smaller actions that are permanent". "A thousand Tolou Keur is already 1.5 million trees," said Ndiaye. "So if we start, we can make a lot." REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
An aerial view shows trees standing in an area that is part of the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel on the outskirts of Walalde department in Senegal, July 11, 2021. The Green Wall initiative was launched in 2007 with aims to slow desertification across Africa's Sahel region, the arid belt south of the Sahara Desert, by planting a line of trees from Senegal to Djibouti. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Children carry wood that was collected for cooking, as they walk past a newly built a Tolou Keur garden in Boki Diawe, within the Great Green Wall area, in Matam region, Senegal, 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. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Moussa Kamara, 47, a baker and a Tolou Keur garden caretaker, helps to install a water reserve at a newly built Tolou Keur garden, which holds 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, in Boki Diawe, within the Great Green Wall area, in Matam region, Senegal, July 10, 2021. Kamara 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. "This project is incredibly important," said Kamara. "When you grow one tree, over 20 years people and animals will benefit from it." REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
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, July 13, 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. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Baydi Wague, 11, waters a newly planted tree at a Tolou Keur garden in Boki Diawe, within the Great Green Wall area, Matam region, Senegal, July 12, 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. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Aboulaziz Kome, 44, a carpenter, checks a chicken at a Tolou Keur garden in Walalde department of Podor, in an area that is part of the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel area, in Senegal, July 11, 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. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
A boy sits inside a plastic tub outside his house that he shares with his family in Walalde department of Podor, in an area that is part of the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel area, in Senegal, July 11, 2021. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
A girl carries a jerrycan filled with water at a Tolou Keur garden in the Walalde department of Podor, in the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel area, Senegal, July 11, 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. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
An aerial view shows participants of a Tolou Keur programme working on a newly built Tolou Keur garden in Boki Diawe, within the Great Green Wall area, in Matam region, Senegal, 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. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Trees to be planted, are pictured at a warehouse next to a Tolou Keur garden, within an area that is part of the Great Green Wall, in Boki Diawe, Matam region, Senegal, July 13, 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. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Dry earth is pictured in a field, in an area that is part of the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel, on the outskirts of Walalde department, in Senegal, July 11, 2021. The Green Wall initiative was launched in 2007 with aims to slow desertification across Africa's Sahel region, the arid belt south of the Sahara Desert, by planting a line of trees from Senegal to Djibouti. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
A woman holds her daughter as she sits outside her shared family home in an area that is part of the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel, in Walalde department of Podor, Senegal, July 11, 2021. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Simbe Gue Soro Ndiouk, 60, stands beside his lemon tree, that he covers to protect it from wind, dust and animals in an area that is part of the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel, in Walalde department of Podor, Senegal, July 11, 2021. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Amadou Bathili, 50, a trainer who teaches how to build Tolou Keur gardens through the Tolou Keur programme, prepares a chicken cage at a newly built Tolou Keur garden in Boki Diawe department of Podor region, in an area which is part of the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel area, in Senegal, 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. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Senegalese plant circular gardens in Green Wall defense against desert