Just a few years ago, the Sahel region at the northern edge of Senegal was a "barren wasteland" where nothing had grown for 40 years. But the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and local villagers teamed up to regreen the area, bringing back agriculture, improving the economy of the people who live there, and preventing the climate migration that desertification ultimately leads to.
I’ve seen a few posts on this and it’s always exciting to see this mix of cultural wisdom and environmentalism.
But I’m always left wondering why we aren’t supporting these communities with some heavy equipment to do this. From the article it takes a person an entire day to dig one of these moons. Surely some construction equipment could work order(s?) of magnitude faster. I can’t help the hinting feeling that we’re offloading all of the burdens of addressing global climate change onto the communities that are already paying the steepest price.
Is it the climate? How remote the locations are? Challenges with sourcing parts? Hope someone can clarify why heavy equipment would be prohibitive.
Surely some construction equipment could work order(s?) of magnitude faster.
You have to supply the support network for the equipment. For a lot of less developed areas, it isn't worth it to supply a tractor which will become a statue.
Digger plus a tank of petrol a day is absolutely feasible no matter where you are in the world. There is no "less developed" area that they don't have this. Everywhere has cars, everywhere has petrol powered boats and generators.
The cost of a tank of fuel for a digger in this area exceeds the average national monthly salary of Senegal. And I imagine this area has way below the average salaries.
I’ve seen a few posts on this and it’s always exciting to see this mix of cultural wisdom and environmentalism.
But I’m always left wondering why we aren’t supporting these communities with some heavy equipment to do this. From the article it takes a person an entire day to dig one of these moons. Surely some construction equipment could work order(s?) of magnitude faster. I can’t help the hinting feeling that we’re offloading all of the burdens of addressing global climate change onto the communities that are already paying the steepest price.
Is it the climate? How remote the locations are? Challenges with sourcing parts? Hope someone can clarify why heavy equipment would be prohibitive.
You have to supply the support network for the equipment. For a lot of less developed areas, it isn't worth it to supply a tractor which will become a statue.
Digger plus a tank of petrol a day is absolutely feasible no matter where you are in the world. There is no "less developed" area that they don't have this. Everywhere has cars, everywhere has petrol powered boats and generators.
The cost of a tank of fuel for a digger in this area exceeds the average national monthly salary of Senegal. And I imagine this area has way below the average salaries.