Bringing degraded African land back to life.

Farming in the Sahel region of Africa isn't easy. It's an area that suffers from degraded soils, erratic rainfall and is often subject to long periods of drought. For that reason, farmland soil is often very hard, making it difficult for farmers to plant seeds and for crops to flourish. But new technology can reduce this burden for farmer and help restore land for future generations.

When Moctar Sacande, Coordinator of FAO's Action Against Desertification programme, talks about restoring land in Africa, the passion in his voice is evident.

'Restoring degraded land back to productive good health is a huge opportunity for Africa. It brings big social and economic benefits to rural farming communities,' he says. 'It's a bulwark against climate change and it brings technology to enhance traditional knowledge.'

Luckily, there is a piece of technology that can aid farmers who are dealing with tough farming conditions and restore farmland: the Delfino plough.

FAO brought this state-of-the art heavy digger to the Sahel region as part of FAO's Action Against Desertification (AAD) programme, using it to cut through impacted, bone-dry soil to a depth of more than half a metre. Four Delfinos have been introduced into four countries - Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal - as part of FAO's Great Green Wall initiative.

The Delfino creates large half-moon catchments ready for planting seeds and seedlings, boosting rainwater harvesting tenfold and making soil more permeable for planting than the traditional - and backbreaking - method of digging by hand.

The half-moon is a traditional Sahel planting method which creates contours to stop rainwater runoff, improving water infiltration and keeping the soil moist for longer. This creates favourable micro-climate conditions allowing seeds and seedlings to flourish.

The Delfino plough is also hugely efficient. One hundred farmers digging traditional half-moon irrigation ditches by hand can cover a hectare a day, but when the Delfino is hooked to a tractor, it can cover 15 to 20 hectares in a day.

Once an area is ploughed, the seeds of woody and herbaceous native species are then sown directly and inoculated seedlings planted. These species are very resilient and work well in degraded land, providing vegetation cover and improving the productivity of previously barren lands.

The importance of restored land

By bringing degraded land back to life, farmers do not have to clear additional forest land to turn into...