Poor-Landless Farmers in West Region Empowered on Organic Vegetable Production

Some 22 farmers in the West Region of Cameroon have been empowered on vegetable nursery establishment & management, and organic farming techniques for the restoration of degraded agro-ecosystems.  This empowerment was carried out, recently, by the Environment and Community Development Association (ECoDAs) Cameroon.

According to the Founder/Director of ECoDAs, Tansi Godwill Tansi, the activities are part of the Pollination Project funded project geared towards ensuring food security, improving nutritional status, redressing poverty status and improving farmers’ relationship with the environment.   The project culminated in the mobilization of farmers into a producers’ association dubbed Dynamic Organic Gardeners of Bana. To enable effective success and sustainability of activities of this producer association, members were also trained on group formation, management and leadership. Farmers equally received organic fertilizer and vegetables seeds like cabbage and huckleberry as start-up support to establish individual organic vegetable farms. Meanwhile, plans are underway to provide these farmers with farm equipment and to extent the project to reach more landless farmers in the Bana community.

 “ECoDAs is in the process of establishing a Farmers’ Field School in the project area that will serve as a learning centre to facilitate farmers-to-farmers learning and ECoDAs-to-farmers learning. We will also be supporting these farmers with farm equipment such as watering cans to assist them ensure effective management of their vegetable farms while providing extension services to make sure they harvest first grade produce to attract better market prices for their products,” Tansi Godwill Tansi, Founder/Director of ECoDAs expounded.

As to what motivated the implementation of the project, the ECoDAs boss explained that most farmers in the Bana community are economic migrants from other parts of Cameroon, who only have access to less than one hectare of land. A situation, which according to him, has been worsened by limited access to farm inputs, climate change and lack of knowledge on smart agricultural practices; resulting to low food production, malnutrition and a vicious cycle of poverty. It is therefore hoped that, by the end of this project, over 30 landless migrant farmers in Bana will be directly engaged in organic vegetable gardening and organic food crop production, which will enable them grow more food, improve on their nutrition and generate income to elevate their living conditions.

ECoDAS is a Cameroon-based NGO that promotes environmental conservation and social development to guarantee health and wellness to current and future generations, boost social wellbeing and economic independence of environmentally delicate communities and tackle climate change.

B. Shancho Ndimuh