One Man, One Country, One Tree at a Time!!!

Let's starat with the one country...  that would be Burkina Faso.  A landlocked country located in northwestern Africa with a population of 15.3 million citizens.   Life isn't necessarily easy for the people as this country.  Burkina Faso has the lowest GDP per capita in the world at $1,400, a life expectancy of 52 for females and only 50 for males, and less than 10 physicians per 100,000. About 60.5% of women have suffered female genital mulitation.  The people survive off of working in agriculture and through international assistance.  Statistics on religion are difficult as Christianity and Islam are often practiced in tandem with indigenous beliefs. 
The northern portions of Burkina Faso falls in the Sahel Belt, a semi-arid region between the Sahara Desert to the north and the tropical savannahs further south.  The Sahel Belt suffers from drought at times.  In the 1970s, a drought occurred resulting in famine killing large amounts of people.  Droughts in the area have caused widespread 'desertification'.   Combined with other factors such as overgrazing, poor land management, and overpopulations, the drought led to substantial increase in barren land, particularly on slopes, due to the difficulty cultivating  sloped land.   The soil on uncultivated land experiences erosion and compaction.  Now the man!  That would be YACOUBA SAWADOGO!!!!!  I don't know his age, but he has appears to out lived the national average of most males.  He is wise, committed and has a strong will.   Desertification continued with little intervention, so this wonderful man decided he would do it himself, eventually starting a movement.

In the 1980s, Yacouba and another local farm innovator, Mathieu began experiments with techniques for rehabilitating damaged soil. Relying on simple time tested 'traditional' approaches, they planted successfully in the desert and on the slopes.   The created a forested area of over 50 acres!  Yacouba is known as "the man who stopped the desert!"  They have now started outreach effort to spread their technique throughout the region. 

Unfortunately the land he cultivated was annexed by the nearby city of Ouahigouya,  under the auspices of government program to increase city revenues.  Yacouba Sawadogo and his immediate family members have been offered each 1/10 of an acre and no other compensation.  He was raising money to purchase the land for himself.  I was unable to determine if he was successful,  but I can't imagine this man being unsuccessful.  We can only hopes that he continues to educate and his techniques continue to spread.