Series description
Shot in Chad, Senegal and Djibouti, this series explores the trials and tribulations of Africa's Great Green Wall (GGW), one of the most ambitious environmental projects ever undertaken. The multibillion dollar initiative hopes to re-green a vast strip of land stretching across the entire continent, in order to fight desertification and boost food security, among other things. It has been beset by problems, though, and many of its projects have failed. Yet even in the face of daunting odds, local communities from Dakar to Djibouti are striving to keep the dream alive.
Biography
Tommy is an independent photographer based in Cape Town, South Africa. Working across Africa, his focus ranges widely from stories of conflict, crisis and environmental issues to stories of innovation, resilience, and the people and organisations fighting to change the world for the better.
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A farmer walks through a vegetable patch on a farm irrigated by a solar borehole outside N’Djamena, Chad. The farm is a project of the country's Great Green Wall agency, which seeks to re-green large areas of the country but is hamstrung by a lack of funds.
© Tommy Trenchard, South Africa, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Environment, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
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Village chief Issa Ousmane Tcharaba talks with other elders at the oasis of Barkadroussou in Kanem province, Chad. Oases are critical to human survival in the region but are shrinking rapidly in the face of hotter temperatures and stronger winds.
© Tommy Trenchard, South Africa, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Environment, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
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Village chief Issa Ousmane Tcharaba with other village elders at the oasis of Barkadroussou in Kanem province, Chad. A Great Green Wall project run by an NGO, SOS Sahel, helped farmers to stabilise the dunes that threatened to swamp the oasis. It also installed a borehole and provided seeds and technical assistance.
© Tommy Trenchard, South Africa, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Environment, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
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An evening scene at the edge of Dikhil, Djibouti. Djibouti marks the easternmost end of the Great Green Wall project and is arid, drought prone and heavily dependent on food imports. The GGW was supposed to combat desertification and food insecurity in the region, but its progress has been slow.
© Tommy Trenchard, South Africa, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Environment, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
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Gum arabic harvesters at work outside the village of Awiya, Chad. The men are part of a GGW-backed project planting the acacia trees that produce the gum. Of all the GGW projects, researchers say those most likely to succeed are the ones that provide a tangible benefit for local communities.
© Tommy Trenchard, South Africa, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Environment, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
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Mahamat Ali of SOS Sahel, which supervised a Great Green Wall project looking to protect oases threatened by desertification in Chad. The project's funding has since run out, leaving the vital irrigation supply vulnerable to mechanical breakdowns.
© Tommy Trenchard, South Africa, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Environment, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
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Sergeant Ahmadou Badji is the head of Great Green Wall efforts in the region of Widou Thiengoly, Senegal. Here, he tends to a sapling in the GGW agency's nursery at the edge of the village. The village is seen as the birthplace of the Great Green Wall, and has seen multiple GGW projects implemented over the years. Despite many failures, Badji continues to do all he can to turn things around.
© Tommy Trenchard, South Africa, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Environment, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
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Farmers install a series of barricades to fix the shifting dunes that threaten to swamp their local oasis outside the village of Kaou, Chad. The oasis provides their only source of farmland, but oases in the region have been shrinking in the face of hotter temperatures and stronger winds.
© Tommy Trenchard, South Africa, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Environment, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
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Awol Ismael tends his crops in a greenhouse in Shekhaiti, Djibouti. The farm was supported by the Great Green Wall initiative, but local farmers said much of the water from the GGW-funded borehole had been appropriated by a local official, and the project had to be significantly downsized.
© Tommy Trenchard, South Africa, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Environment, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
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