You may have heard about rainmakers before, the ones whose influence can bring progress or success. Well, this story is about a forest maker: Tony Rinaudo. Like rainmakers, Tony has a magic touch, in his case to spread native trees in dry lands and bringing countless benefits to the local population. His work on Niger was so impressive that he was awarded the Alternative Nobel Prize in 2018.



Earlier today, he shared his story with a multidisciplinary audience at Tropentag. In a truthful way, Tony shared that the fairy tale of reforesting Africa and fighting pests, hunger and drought was quickly replaced by the challenge of convincing farmers of the simple fact of letting trees grow. After two years and with 80% of failure, he received the label of “crazy white farmer” and trees were still viewed as useless. However, in his third year of the experiment, Tony realized that farmers who let their trees grow, rather than cut them, were experiencing the positive results he was trying to obtain by planting. As Tony remodeled his experiment, the results were consistent, and the good news spread, enabling him to convince many other farmers to join. These results improved soil fertility and microclimate, as well as helped transform millions of hectares of dry land.

More than a story of overcoming obstacles, the merit on Tony’s speech lies in highlighting the courage and boldness scientists must have to challenge assumptions already consolidated. The farmers Tony met in Niger are the climate change deniers, the pesticide defenders and the unsustainable economic growth supporters of today. As Tony said, “some of the solutions are in our face and we are not looking to the obvious”. We as scientists are invited to look at successful low-cost simple solutions and spread the good news. When we stand up for this, cultural habits and mindsets can be changed in favor of a more equal and sustainable world.

Learn more about Tony's Rinaudo "behind the scenes" life.
Check out this fun interview he gave to our team.