‘THIS LAND IS BEAUTIFUL TO US’
In the mayor’s office a group of farmers are gathered around dusty desks. At 4.00pm, the heat is still oppressive here in Fatick, a semi-arid region in the Senegalese Sahel. Outside, under a neem tree, people are dozing on woven mats; girls are using the downtime to braid one another’s hair.
Mame Kor Faye, an energetic man in his late fifties, is in full flow, describing the area as he remembers it as a child. ‘Beyond the farms, the forest was dense, full of all kind of species,’ he says. ‘There were buffaloes, hyena, monkeys and jackals. Many trees and flowers.’ The other farmers speak up, incanting like a Greek chorus. ‘We remember, we remember – we were children. Forty years ago…’
‘It’s all gone.’ Mame Kor shuts down the reminiscing. ‘But,’ he explains, ‘we want it back.’
In 2014, the community of Ndiob elected a militant environmentalist mayor, Oumar Ba, with an 80-per-cent majority. He lost no time putting into motion an ambitious plan for full-scale agricultural transformation that will turn the municipality of Ndiob – population 19,000 – into a ‘green, resilient community’. These local farmers are part of
