 |
| Since the
droughts, many village ponds have been dug deeper |
Where there are no big
irrigation schemes, people can only cultivate crops during the rainy season. When the
rains are good, they can grow plants and there is grazing for the animals. But when the
rains are poor, crops die and animals starve. There were terrible droughts in 1984, and
many people lost everything. The landscape was also terribly damaged. Plants died, the
land dried up and blew away, people cut down trees – their last surviving possessions – and the rain was slow to return.
"In Tamachek there is
a saying: 'If there are no trees there is no rain.' But yes, we are still cutting trees
for two reasons: first, we cut the trees to make fences to show the borders of our fields,
and to keep the animals out; secondly if you have a tree in your field it will be a
breeding place for birds, and the birds will come and eat your crops, so you have to do
everything you can to get rid of them." Idjirinta Ag Imbikrane |
