Desertification has ravaged this once lush pastureland, the ancestral home to a half million Tuareg and Wodaabe Fulani nomads. The rainy season, previously five months long, now lasts only 1 to 2 months. Water scarcity makes it nearly impossible for any kind of economy to exist.

Without water and pasture, animal herds have been decimated. People have settled into villages where it is impossible to grow food. They are the poorest of the poor.
Fathers, struggling to support their family, roam the plains seeking water and pasture for their remaining animals. Mothers migrate to neighboring countries desperate to earn a little money. Children cannot attend school because they spend all their time searching for water, or caring for younger siblings. Climate change is a daily reality threatening their survival.

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