For centuries, the great empires of West Africa were fed by rivers like the Volta or the Niger - their blue veins.

Today, after decades of colonisation, the food resilience of the banks of these rivers is at risk, and endogenous culture is being lost to an increasingly urban and violently industrialised transitional society.

Nigeria tells us how far this boat can sink, but its on the banks of the Niger, in Mali, that a first answer comes to us from a former footballer who swapped football pitches for other fields.

Farmers poisoned by pesticides are a constant in Burkina Faso, triggering the search for alternatives are sought by partnerships between scientists and farmers.

Members of the Rastafari community feel the call to care for the health of the land and people.
"This is the moment of the African Renaissance" argues Godfrey Namudjo, founder of Songhai, a worldwide recognized agroecological training centre in Benin.

A stream of awareness, ideas and initiatives flows and grows across West Africa like a powerful green vein fertilising the land.