Farmers in Tanlili practise two techniques to protect the land against erosion - zai and small dykes. The dykes are traced along the level line in order to prevent rain water from rapidly flowing off the land to the temporary rivers that run across the savannah during the rainy season. Zai is an ancient Mossi technique that had fallen out of use and was revived by the Namanegbzanga Union of Village Groups (UNGVT). It involves making small, regularly spaced craters which slow the evacuation of rain water from the fields and directs the water toward the seeds to be germinated.
