{"id":9504,"date":"2023-12-15T12:00:22","date_gmt":"2023-12-15T12:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/combonimission.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=9504"},"modified":"2023-12-11T10:58:31","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T10:58:31","slug":"advocacy-people-el-hadji-salifou-ouedraogo-the-man-who-plants-baobabs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/2023\/12\/15\/advocacy-people-el-hadji-salifou-ouedraogo-the-man-who-plants-baobabs\/","title":{"rendered":"Advocacy & People. El Hadji Salifou Ou\u00e9draogo. The Man Who Plants Baobabs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The African baobab tree (Adansonia digitata<\/em>) symbolizes thriving life in the arid landscape of the savannah, providing shelter, food, and water for humans and various species. One man has planted thousands of baobab seedlings over the past 47 years, creating a vast forest that helps his family, community, and the Earth flourish. Meet El Hadji Salifou Ou\u00e9draogo.<\/p>\n

Born and raised in Titao, Burkina Faso, Ou\u00e9draogo longed to be a Quran Master. However, he felt called to another spiritual route, this time with nature. At first, Ou\u00e9draogo started planting mango trees but realized everyone around him was doing the same. He thought: \u201cIf everyone is running in the same direction, you have to look out for an escape route for when things go wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

The urge to be different led him to plant the mighty baobab. People called him crazy, but that encouraged Ou\u00e9draogo even more.<\/p>\n

In local folklore, whoever plants a baobab dies as the tree is cursed. Legend says the baobabs were too proud, so the gods became angry and uprooted them and threw them back into the ground upside-down.<\/p>\n

Ou\u00e9draogo told them, \u201cMy father did not plant a baobab, but he died. I have never seen my father\u2019s nor my grandfather\u2019s baobab, but they are all dead. If the baobab tree stays alive and I die, it is not a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the trees’ mythology, baobabs are essential to life in the savannah. A succulent, the tree absorbs and stores water from the rainy season in its massive trunk, which helps keep soil conditions humid, slows erosion, and serves as a water source for many animals.<\/p>\n

The baobab\u2019s fruit contains tartaric acid and Vitamin C, providing vital nutrients for various species, including birds, lizards, monkeys, and even elephants. For humans, the baobab\u2019s fruit pulp can be eaten, soaked in water to make a refreshing drink, preserved into a jam, or roasted and ground to make a coffee-like substance.<\/p>\n

The bark from the tree is pounded to make everything from rope, mats, and baskets to paper and cloth. Leaves are also used, they can be boiled and eaten, or glue can be made from their flower\u2019s pollen.<\/p>\n

With over 300 life-sustaining uses, it is the root of many Indigenous remedies, traditions, and folklore. Hence its literal nickname, \u2018The Tree of Life.\u2019<\/p>\n

Today, Ou\u00e9draogo\u2019s forest has over 3,000 trees and covers 14 hectares. Not only do his baobabs provide food to his fellow villagers, but they also preserve a traditional lifestyle while protecting the climate from deforestation.<\/p>\n

Planting baobab trees is now a part of Ou\u00e9draogo\u2019s faith. \u201cIt\u2019s the most important thing aside from going to heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the documentary \u201cThe Man Who Plants Baobabs\u201d<\/em>, filmmaker Michel K. Zongo followed Ou\u00e9draogo around his forest. The charismatic leader showcases his precious baobabs, how he plants them, and who they feed.<\/p>\n

In one scene, community members come through the forest, taking smaller trees back to their homes and picking fruit. It is even a family affair with Ou\u00e9draogo\u2019s son, Sofiane, assisting in planting, and his daughter, Kalidjata, collecting leaves.<\/p>\n

Ou\u00e9draogo\u2019s youthful enthusiasm and passion for native planting practices continue to inspire his neighbours and an international audience of climate and environmental activists with the idea that one person can change the world.<\/p>\n

Yet, the older man\u2019s face just curls into a wide grin when he is told of his apparent wisdom. \u201cThe advantage of age is what you have seen and what you\u2019ve heard and what you’ve done.\u201d It is also what Ou\u00e9draogo continues to do, and that is plant more baobabs. (Lindsey Jean Schueman\/One Earth) \u2013 (123rf)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The African baobab tree (Adansonia digitata) symbolizes thriving life in the arid landscape of the savannah, providing shelter, food, and water for humans and various species. One man has planted thousands of baobab seedlings over the past 47 years, creating a vast forest that helps his family, community, and the Earth flourish. Meet El Hadji […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9504\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}