Brahima Ouedraogo

When Frank Alain Kabore — the manager of a wildlife concession in Burkina Faso — looks back, he recalls that days used to go by without him seeing an elephant in the reserve, a decade ago. Today, he comes across one every 100m. It’s an environmental success story in this West African country that may yet return to haunt it.

It is an article of faith in development circles that assisting girls to complete their education — and postponing the age at which they have children — benefits both the girls and the communities they live in. This truth is proving difficult to entrench in Burkina Faso, however, where early marriages are often the norm.