Reportage: The Senegal River Basin: Water is Life

The Senegal River Basin lies in the Western Sahel, the transition zone between the Sahara desert to the north and the Sudanian savannas to the south. It is in these transition zones where climatic changes are most evident. Rainy seasons are short and the region suffers from prolonged periods of drought. As a result, the Senegal River Basin is generally associated with parched landscapes, poverty and emigration. Millions have left in search of work and a means of supporting their communities. The impact of revenue sent to the Senegal River Basin from abroad is beginning to change the socio-economic landscape of the region. As global warming produces ever more erratic and extreme weather conditions, the key to life and long-term development in the drought-plagued Senegal River Basin is the management of its most rare and essential resource: water. These pictures were taken during the Sahel rainy season, the brief window of time during the otherwise scorched year when water is abundant, life explodes, the landscape transforms and we see the region in a way other than an arid canvas of misery that produces a steady stream of economic and climatic migrants.