After an early lunch and a very enjoyable ride through Tanout endless landscape, we arrived at Eden’s field station, which is situation 13 km south of Tanout city (140 km north of Zinder), in the northernmost Nigerien agriculture zone.

Eden’s field station in 1987

More than twenty years ago, this area was a denuded field like all the others, and its previous owner had left one tree for shade; all the others were being cut down.

My brother and I at Eden’s field station in 1988

As a child, it bored me to spend the day at the field station as there was so little to do there (except to look for beetle tracks in the sand), but today, I love it. More than 20 years of diligently research has allowed this once denuded field to house a vast number of drought-resistant trees and bushes, all established without irrigation or fertilizer.

I love the feel of walking around between these powerful trees and bushes that have sprung up from seemingly nothing and established themselves with authority. I love to listen to the sounds coming from the birds and the insects that thrive in this new habitat of theirs. There is such peace and serenity to be felt walking when you walk around in the field station, even in the dry season when many trees have shredded their leaves. It’s like a huge natural park, full of methodical research.

Watching my step and making sure not to trample on any 2007 seedlings!

The aim with this visit was to prepare for the 2008 experiments, which will take place in the beginning of the rainy season.

Part of Eden’s work is to research what trees and bushes can grow in this arid area, without any additives such as irrigation or fertilizers or anything else that the farmers would not be able to provide themselves. Once a specie has proven to grow well at the field station, we pass that knowledge on to the farmers in our program, who have contacted us on their own accord.

When the work was done for the day, we ended with a drive on the ‘visitor’s road’ that gives you the full tour of the the field station (all of its 20 hectars), before heading back to Zinder again.