Dr Lassina Sanou
Mottes de terre to replace plastic polybags in tree nurseries
The Mottes de Terre to Replace Plastic innovation
The concept originated with botanist and rural development engineer, Dr Lassina Sanou, from experimental plantations that utilized plastic polybags showing low plant survival rates, largely because roots were unable to grow straight down. In response, he and his team experimented with mottes de terre (pots made from clods of earth) alongside different technologies such as plastic and ronier baskets. Their findings were that trees cultivated with this approach exhibited significantly more biomass. Building on these results, they collaborated with producer groups committed to environmental sustainability, organizing demonstration plantings and field visits. The initiative was further promoted through marketing videos produced by Atelier National Burkinabé, with initial project implementation taking place in the Centre-Ouest region.
Dr Lassina Sanou
Mottes de terre to replace plastic polybags in tree nurseries
Location: Saria, Burkina Faso
Mottes de Terre has received a grant of €5,000 (five thousand euros) from the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) through the Knowledge for Great Green Wall Action (K4GGWA) programme, funded by the European Union. The grant will be used to carry out the next phase of the project, to be implemented in Saria Village, located 25 km from Koudougou. This phase will focus on one or more of the following initiatives:
- Training producers in the production of earthen planting pots through a dedicated capacity-building programme;
- Improving and optimizing moulds for the production of earthen planting pots;
- Developing a business plan to market expertise and the earthen planting pots themselves;
- Creating communication materials including brochures, booklets and social media support tools to help tree nursery operators produce and use earthen planting pots.
