Farmers are buying degraded land and paying young men to transform yields in Burkina Faso
"In Burkina Faso, rather than migrating, work groups of young men specialized in land rehabilitation techniques, such as tassas and zai planting pits, go from village to village to satisfy farmers’ growing interest in improving their own lands. Farmers are now buying degraded land for improvement and paying these labourers to dig zai pits and construct the rock walls and half-moon structures which can transform yields. This is one of the reasons why more than 3 million hectares of land in Burkina Faso are now rehabilitated and productive."
Oliver De Schutter, “Report submitted by the Special Rapporteur on the right to food”, Human Rights Council, A/HRC/16/49: 11 [verified 4/15/14]