Most people have probably never heard of Tony Rinaudo, but millions continue to benefit from his work, especially in parts of Africa.

The 63-year-old Australian agronomist is known as the "forest maker." Having lived and worked in Africa for several decades, he has discovered and put in practice a solution to extreme deforestation and desertification of the Sahel region.

Rinaudo, who's also a senior climate change adviser to World Vision Australia, said his work was born out of a passion that started at an early age.

"When I was little, I was so angry about the environmental destruction in my home area and the poisoning of the rivers. And then the hunger, children just like me who through no fault of their own happen to be born in another country and were growing up hungry," he told CGTN.

"But I was powerless and impotent to have any impact on that. So I just said a prayer, a child's prayer asking God to use me somewhere to make a difference. And, to a large extent, my whole life has been an attempt to be faithful to that prayer," he added.

In the early 1980s, Rinaudo was working on a project in northern Africa, aimed at transforming the dried up soil into fertile farm land, which didn't work. That's when he realized a relatively simple and cost-effective solution.

"In that flash everything changed. I realized it's not a question of my budget or how many staff or having a technical solution. If it was people's beliefs about trees and their behavior towards the environment that brought the environment to its knees, that's where the real battle was."

"And if I could convince individuals and communities that it was in their best interests, that they would have a better future for themselves and their children by allowing at least some of these tree stumps to regrow, then nature would do the rest, it would heal itself," he said.

After convincing a small number of farmers who used to clear trees from their land to try his method of allowing trees to grow from existing root systems, Rinaudo said the idea took off.

Today the benefits of the farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR) method are astounding.

"We've introduced FMNR into 27 countries, it has enabled farmers to double their crop yield. For example, farmers in Niger are now growing an additional 500,000 tonnes of grain just because the micro climate has improved and the soil fertility is better. That's enough food for two and a half million people every year," he said.