Story | 16 វិច្ឆិកា, 2021

The Restoration Initiative: A Cameroon story

Community-led restoration in the Far North Region of Cameroon

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Photo: Fogoh John Muafor / TRI Cameroon.

In the Aissa Hardé village in the Far North Region of Cameroon, Mamma Salamatou tends to the rows of tiny seedlings in plastic bags growing under awnings – protection from the blistering sun that bakes this landscape of grasslands and trees for much of the year. One of several community members working in partnership with the TRI Cameroon restoration project – she is also a pioneer. In this largely conservative part of Cameroon, it is uncommon for women to take on work and responsibilities outside the household. Mamma Salamatou was the first woman to join the local Madadakouda Common Initiative Group (CIG) that serves as a local governing board for the community, and she has played a key role in encouraging other women from her village to participate in the CIG and TRI project-supported restoration work.

Her story speaks to the challenges of those living in this poor, rural area of Cameroon, particularly women. A widow and mother of three young children, she has no legal right to own land, and is instead considered a caretaker of the land that once belonged to her deceased husband, until it can be passed on to her two male children. Moreover, the land on which she farms, like most farmland in this region of Cameroon, is not as productive as in the past – a legacy of intensive agriculture and animal grazing together with prolonged periods of drought, which are thought to be exacerbated by climate change. As if these hardships were not enough, insurgents from the group Boko Haram, have been launching cross-border attacks on civilians from Northeast Nigeria, and the situation remains volatile with military forces posted nearby.

Amidst this backdrop, TRI Cameroon has been working with four villages in this region on a number of restoration initiatives, and there are plans for broader engagement with additional partnering villages in 2021.

The project is supporting partnering villages to implement restorative agroforestry cropping systems as well as sustainable plantations of fast- growing bamboo plants, neem trees (Azadirachta idica) and other tree species. Project support includes training on how to establish and manage nurseries and plantations, how to plan and establish agroforestry systems, how to transport seedlings, as well as direct support for the provision of seedlings and other supplies.

To date, three nurseries for the propagation of seedlings have been established with project support in the region, with the one in the Aissa Hardé village being the largest. Bamboo is a key focus of the project. With the help of the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), bamboo is promoted as a fast-growing source of building material and energy that can take pressure off slower-growing trees and natural areas and provide other benefits.

In addition, neem trees – the second most propagated tree at the nursery – are valued for both wood and other neem products, including medicines made from the leaves as well as from the seed oil. The German Government development agency GIZ is investing in a project in the area to develop the commercial potential of neem oil – opening up opportunities for collaboration with TRI Cameroon.

Despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the project has managed to bring 25 ha of degraded land under restoration in the region, with over 10 000 seedlings planted, and preparations are underway to expand plantings in 2021, in time for the three-month rainy season beginning in July.

As Mamma Salamatou says, “I feel good knowing that we are working to bring back fertility to our lands, and that we are showing through our efforts that women have an important role to play.


This story is from TRI Year in Review 2020