Yacouba Sawadogo, African Farmer Who Held Back the Desert, Dies at 77
www.nytimes.com
Against the odds, facing the encroaching Sahara, he built a forest in Burkina Faso, becoming “a national hero” and winning acclaim abroad for his innovations.

He took barren and dry lands and turned them into incredible forests. People thought he was insane as they fled dying villiages. They burned his forests. He replanted his forests and tripled his crop yields, becoming a hero to farmers all over.