“The Sahelian Bocage school”, Ciné Yam’s latest film

In Burkina Faso, the AZN inter-village association and the NGO TERRE VERTE have developed, over more than thirty years, an original and effective response to soil degradation in the Sahelian zone: the Sahelian Bocage. Asked by many communities to replicate this rural land-use planning model, and with a view to facilitating the scaling up of the method, the two organisations began developing a fully-fledged training centre in 2008. This is the Ecole du Bocage, also known as CFAR (Centre de Formation des Aménageurs Ruraux). Over three years, it prepares young women and men who are committed to fighting desertification to put this concept into practice.

At the same time, with the support of the French image education and documentary production association La Trame, AZN and TERRE VERTE have had their own integrated audiovisual production unit, Ciné Yam, since 2017. Its team is made up of AZN and TERRE VERTE technicians, both women and men, who were introduced to filmmaking by La Trame directors during eleven on-site collaboration sessions. Ciné Yam’s main mission is to popularise and promote, through documentary film, all the agroecological practices developed on the pilot farms of TERRE VERTE’s Sahelian Bocage Network. After seven films already produced on these practices, it became important to have a presentation of the Ecole du Bocage, which trains the future key actors of this entire process. This production was launched within the framework of the GALILEO project.

The film is intended first of all for young Burkinabè people who may be interested in joining this pathway and applying for the entrance examination. It is also aimed at their parents, often from rural areas, who wish to better understand this original long-term training opportunity for their children. It also seeks to address all the supporters who accompany CFAR. As a result, the film is available in three language versions: the original French version, a Mooré voice-over version for village screenings, and an English subtitled version for partners and online audiences.

Another key objective for the production team was to avoid the overly institutional formats often found in this type of production, and instead to favour the lively and embodied storytelling approach developed by Ciné Yam. Dynamic settings were therefore designed to capture testimonies from apprentices, former apprentices and the entire CFAR teaching team. This film also gave the Ciné Yam team the opportunity to become familiar with a brand-new, high-performance editing station, supported by the La Trame directors who joined the team in Ouagadougou in 2025 and 2026 for two dedicated mentoring sessions. Filming took place over two years, and several versions of the edit were tested, providing further experience to strengthen the team’s autonomy in documentary filmmaking and writing.

The film “The Bocage School” now completes Ciné Yam’s royalty-free film catalogue. All the films can be viewed on its online platforms, but especially during travelling screenings in rural areas, the Ciné Villages, which form the final link in the Ciné Yam team’s missions.

Useful links

Terre verte – AZN – La Trame / Ciné Yam

La chaine YouTube des films du Ciné Yam

Le serveur Viméo pour télécharger les films