A two day workshop to develop a roadmap comprising scientific local and indigenous knowledge on the integration of rights of communities within the framework of land and forest tenure reform in Cameroon held 16-17 March in Yaoundé . The meeting which brought together some members of Parliament from Cameroon and Mali, traditional authorities and NGOs was organised by the World Agroforestry Centre in collaboration with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and the Rights and Resources Initiative 1 (RRI). The workshop is a follow up of the International Conference o n Forest Tenure, Governance and community enterprise held in 2009 in Yaounde. Addressing participants at the opening, the regional coordinator of ICRAF – WCA, Dr Zac Tchoundjeu in thirteen points, summarised the key issues that were identified by the International Conference on Forest Tenure, Governance and Community Enterprise. Amongst which include; insecure forest tenure in many communities which slows social and economic development, the non-recognition of customary law and tenure rights since the time of colonial rule, and the independent state legal claim of ownership over forest lands which limits the right s of communities to access and own what they legitimately consider to be their natural resources
Tag: cameroon
The Value of Printed Sources of Information in Agricultural Extension
Various methods are used to provide extension workers and farmers with agricultural information. Printed materials remain a major source of information, despite digitalization of information networks, but few studies have looked at their effectiveness. The present work characterizes and assesses the effectiveness of The Farmer’s Voice (TFV), an agricultural newspaper in Cameroon. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire from 107 randomly sampled readers (mainly farmers, lead farmers and extension workers) in three regions.Most respondents subscribed to TFV and paid fees themselves. The time readers took to read completely the magazine varied with gender, reader category, and education level. Respondents recalled topics such as technical tips and health/nutrition much more than others. For 94 percent of users, the motivation to read TFV was to learn appropriate practices on production, consumption, and marketing.Though TFV was a complementary source of agricultural knowledge for most respondents, 97.2 percent were using information from this magazine on a day-to-day basis. Most respondents kept copies of TFV, mainly for future reference. More women than men and more subscribers than occasional buyers preserved copies.All respondents agreed that TFV had significantly contributed to changes in their farming practices. For farmer trainers, TFV was very useful in their extension and advisory activities. Though more than four-fifths of readers had learned about new farming practices through TFV, 27.2 percent were not able to master some of the techniques described in TFV. The difference can be explained by their low education level. Around one-third of respondents said they were willing to share information with others through TFV; very few (11.5 percent) had written to the journal.The majority of users found TFV easy to read and understand. The current price was just about right for 52.8 percent of readers, and 76.8 percent said the quality of the journal was good. Less than one-fourth of respondents (23.4 percent) were able to specify a journal that could substitute for or complement TFV. Most users of TFV (83.5 percent) confirmed that the content of the journal is relevant to all types of farmers. The average score of the general effectiveness of the TFV was 8 out of 10 (min = 5, max = 10, median = 8).The majority of subscribers complained about not receiving their monthly issue on time. Distribution coverage was also low, especially in the rural areas and in towns where there is no official distributor. Some respondents criticized TFV for not sufficiently dealing with topics such as fund-raising, agroforestry and processing of agricultural products.
Factors influencing consumption of nutrient rich forest foods in rural Cameroon
Studies show that a number of forest foods consumed in Cameroon are highly nutritious and rich in health boosting bioactive compounds. This study assessed the knowledge and perceptions towards the nutritional and health promoting properties of forest foods among forest dependent communities. The relationship between knowledge, perceptions and socio-demographic attributes on consumption of forest foods was also determined. A total of 279 females in charge of decision making with respect to food preparation were randomly selected from 12 villages in southern and eastern Cameroon and interviewed using researcher administered questionnaires. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors affecting consumption of forest foods. Baillonella toxisperma (98%) and Irvingia gabonesis (81%) were the most known nutrient rich forest foods by the respondents. About 31% of the respondents were aware of the nutritional value and health benefits of forest foods. About 10%-61% of the respondents expressed positive attitudes to questions related with health benefits of specific forest foods. Consumption of forest foods was found to be higher among polygamous families and also positively related to length of stay in the forest area and age of respondent with consumption of forest foods. Education had an inverse relationship with use of forest foods. Knowledge and positive attitude towards the nutritional value of forest foods were also found to positively influence consumption of forest foods. Since knowledge was found to influence attitude and consumption, there is need to invest in awareness campaigns to strengthen the current knowledge levels among the study population. This should positively influence the attitudes and perceptions towards increased consumption of forest foods. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.
A hard nut to crack
Great cooks in Cameroon have a secret ingredient: a fine, pale-brown paste made by grinding the roasted kernels of the forest tree species Ricinodendrom heudelotti. A small amount of the paste, known locally as njansang, livens up the flavour of food and thickens soups, making it a valued commodity. Extracted and dried, njansang stores well and fetches good prices on the market. In 2006 a study found that four self-help groups in central Cameroon earned 2.8 million CFA (US$5,500) from the sale of 3,000kg of njansang. Njansang’s high price is related to the long, tedious and labour-intensive artisanal processes used to obtain the commodity from R. heudelotti fruits. This difficult processing procedure represents a major constraint in the value chain, creating a bottleneck to wider production and commercialisation of this valuable commodity.
Farmer-to-farmer Extension: a survey of lead farmers in Cameroon
This study examines how the farmer-to-farmer(F2F) extensionapproach is implemented by farmer trainers in Cameroon. Those farmers selected to lead F2F extension are often knownby different names but in this study, we use the term “lead farmer” (LF) as a generic term even though different namessometimes imply different roles.A questionnaire was used to collect data from 160 randomly selected LFs in six regions in Cameroon in 2013. The study describes the activities of LFs and the support they receive, assesses their technical competence and identifies factors that motivate them,as well as the challenges they face in implementing the F2F approach. In Cameroon, about half of the LFs (52 percent) were between 41 and 55 years old. Most LFs (81percent) were married, and more than half had education levels above primary school. A majorityof LFs started serving in their roles between 2005 and 2009. After their selection, through their group/community or from the extension field staff, LFs received an initialresidential training of 6.8 days on average (median = three days). They also received additional training during their service. The major functions of LFs were to provide other farmers with technical advice, supervise their activities, and mobilize their community for awareness or training sessions. Although LFs declared that their competencies in the techniquesthat they taught others were often insufficient, they rated theircompetence level on the innovations that they disseminated at 3.8on a scale of 1 to 5. Most (93 percent) topics taught by LFs were supported with practical exercises, and 91 percentof techniques were actually applied by trainees on their farms. Training needs were generally set by organizations who conducted their own training needs assessments. Lead farmers had some involvement in this process as training needs were identified through farmers’ requests. On average, a lead farmer trained five groups of 26.3 farmers each and 37 additional farmers outside of organized groups (median of total number of trainees per LF = 65).The most common places where LFs conducted training were in group/community halls, at trainees’ houses/farms, or at the LF’s house/farm. Transportation and communication expenses were mainly paid by LFs themselves.