Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Djibouti. Those are the countries. It will be drought-resistant species, mostly acacias. And this is a brilliant idea you have no idea oh my Christ
This will create so many jobs and regenerate so many communities and aaaaaahhhhhhh
it’s already happening, and already having positive effects. this is wonderful, why have i not heard of this before? i’m so happy!
Oh yes, acacia trees.
They fix nitrogen and improve soil quality.
And, to make things fun, the species they’re using practices “reverse leaf phenology.” The trees go dormant in the rainy season and then grow their leaves again in the dry season. This means you can plant crops under the trees, in that nitrogen-rich soil, and the trees don’t compete for light because they don’t have any leaves on.
And then in the dry season, you harvest the leaves and feed them to your cows.
Crops grown under acacia trees have better yield than those grown without them. Considerably better.
So, this isn’t just about stopping the advancement of the Sahara - it’s also about improving food security for the entire sub-Saharan belt and possibly reclaiming some of the desert as productive land.
Of course, before the “green revolution,” the farmers knew to plant acacia trees - it’s a traditional practice that they were convinced to abandon in favor of “more reliable” artificial fertilizers (that caused soil degradation, soil erosion, etc).
This is why you listen to the people who, you know, have lived with and on land for centuries.
Institutions with power will pretty much inevitably attract people who want to abuse that power
Please stop thinking that it’s only “certain” powerful institutions that we need to keep in check
Please stop thinking that it’s only the police that reflect our societal prejudices
All of our institutions of power will reflect our societal prejudices unless we stay active, vocal, and informed to prevent this sort of stuff from happening!!
Please stop reblogging that post
In addition to these things, there’s also the whole issue of private fire departments, which is something heavily advocated by libertarians and some parts of the Republican Party. In areas serviced by them, residents must pay a monthly subscription to be protected. If you can’t afford the extra bill or choose not to pay on principle? The firefighters will watch your house burn to the ground. In the linked article, it mentions neighbors in that particular case offering to pay thousands of dollars for the firefighters to put the fire out, but they refused and watched the house turn to ash.
