Great Green Wall Project: In circles against the desert

Moussa Kamara is actually a baker and stands in the bakery every night to bake bread. Currently, however, he does not go home to sleep after work. Today Kamara plants and takes care of the so-called

These are circular gardens that were created from a local initiative from the Great Green Wall project. Since 2007 attempts have been made in Africa to stop the desertification of the Sahel and the Sahara with a ribbon of trees and green vegetation from east to west. So far, however, only less than 10 percent of the planned plantings have taken place and the project is not really getting going.

With the round gardens one tries to raise the project to a local level and to involve residents of the regions.

It's about self-sufficiency and initiative.

Plants that are particularly resistant to heat and drought, such as papayas and mangoes, will grow in the gardens.

The circular shape of the gardens has pragmatic reasons: Due to the curves, the roots should grow towards the center of the circle, where all nutrients should collect in a bundle and thus also save water.

"If you plant a tree, humans and animals will still benefit from it in 20 years," says Kamera.

Through his hard work and dedication after the bakery job, he has now been given oversight of some of the gardens.