In Niger, since the droughts of the 1970s and 1980s, one of the most successful land restoration strategies has been the regeneration of native trees in farmers’ fields. This has led to a reduction in soil erosion and an improvement in soil fertility (Garvi 2001; Birch et al. 2016). But the focus has often been on the positive effects of trees on annual crop yields, missing the other direct benefits that trees provide. The most valuable of these benefits is the potential contribution of trees as food sources, which is also a historic use that had largely been forgotten. Wild food trees are productive as well
as resilient to drought and very nutritious.

Readopting their consumption on a large scale could be game-changing to the Sahel: it would catalyze their propagation, bring better food security and nutrition, counter desertification, sequester carbon and sustain biodiversity. The founders of Sahara Sahel Foods felt that in order to bring forth such a revolution, an inclusive food processing industry should be created to serve as a stable outlet for produce harvested by rural communities from their surviving and regenerating trees.

The company has come a long way in showing that a social enterprise can be used to create acceptance for stigmatized foods and build markets that channel resources from urban centres to remote rural areas. It has created opportunities for some of the poorest people on the planet, living in a very harsh environment, and has proved to be a catalyst for regreening and biodiversity protection. And it has generated employment for a combination of low- and higher-skilled workers within the processing industry. It also shows that wild plants can be used for making high-quality foods without the need for so-called crop improvement programmes. There are still challenges to be met, the most crucial
being to achieve financial sustainability, but the example of Sahara Sahel Foods shows that this novel idea can change the rules of food production in the Sahel.