Home to one of the harshest cropping environments in the world, the Sahel region of Africa hosts poor, sandy soils, low and erratic rainfall, and excessive soil surface temperatures. Sahelian farmers also often have limited space for cropping, very low incomes and restricted access to inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides. This combination of limitations makes it difficult for farmers to subsist on their cropping operations or produce enough to sell their crops for income.