Reblogged from Thomson Reuters Foundation
Photo: Zoe Tabary, Thomson Reuters Foundation
Dieudonné Sedogo waits patiently in line to see the doctor in the scorching 49-degree Celsius heat of this village in central Burkina Faso. But the ailment he’s seeking to address today isn’t his own. Instead, it’s the one afflicting the wrinkled aubergine with yellowing leaves he’s carrying in his hand.
“Every year during the dry season I have the same problem,” confesses Sedogo, who has been farming the same patch of land for 15 years. His aubergines, he said, each year become as dry as prunes, rendering most of the harvest useless. But today two “plant doctors” – Maurice Albert and Rihanata Sawadogo – have set up a one-day clinic near a maize field in the village.