el hadji ballÉ seye says ten percent of farmland in this region has been lost. dji ballÉ seye:the soil is denuded, completely saturated with salt. there are even certain parts that have acidified, which really shows how far salinization has intruded into this village. the village's name is pethie . and usually its residents gather on this square. the 450 villagers's way of life is steeped in tradition. whether they can continue to live here depends on whether further salinization can be prevented. el hadji ballÉ seye, from the international union for conservation of nature, wants to help. the villagers live from what they can grow. right now, farmers are preparing this field for planting. this millet is left over from the last harvest. the women will later turn it into couscous. nowadays they have to buy other grains to add to it. diodio diouf: because of salinization we can't harvest enough rice anymore. what we picked used to last a year. but because of the salt, the soil is no longer good. still, we keep going. >> but for how long? like pethie, many villages i