Yacouba Sawadogo

Yacouba Sawadogo
Sawadogo in 2019
Born
Yacouba Sawadogo

1946
Gourga, French West Africa (today in Yatenga Province, Burkina Faso)
Died3 December 2023(2023-12-03) (aged 76–77)
Ouahigouya, Burkina Faso
Occupations
Years active1970s–2023
MovementZaï
Awards

Yacouba Sawadogo (1946 – 3 December 2023) was a Burkinabé farmer and agronomist who successfully used a traditional farming technique called zaï to restore soils damaged by desertification and drought. Such techniques are known by the collective terms agroforestry and farmer-managed natural regeneration.

A 2010 documentary feature film, The Man Who Stopped the Desert, first screened in the UK, portrays his life.

Sawadogo was a native speaker of Mossi. In 2018, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award. In 2020, he was awarded the Champions of the Earth award.

Sawadogo died on 3 December 2023 at age 77.