The Fight of the Mossi against the desert : a lesson in ecology

This film was presented at the 7th International Scientific Conference of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (1989) on "Alternative agriculture and nutritional self-sufficiency". The film presents different agricultural experiments which were undertaken to fight desertification in the Sahel. One took place in 3 villages of the Yatenga province, Longa, Somiaga and Tanghin, where the communities adopted composting, water harvesting and small-scale irrigation to combat erosion and reconstitute the fertility of the soil. This film demonstrates both the technical and social aspects of this agro-ecological approach to increase agricultural productivity in Burkina Faso where 85 percent of the population live in rural areas.