Project summary:
The project need is to fight hunger by promoting integrated and ecological farming practices that improves soil conservation, increase yam production by 85% and improve livelihood for 500 direct women beneficiaries within a project period of 12 months. The project will provide sustainable solutions to the threat of food insecurity, malnutrition, rapid degradation of agricultural and forest landscapes, declining yams yields, extreme poverty and climate change that have plagued these communities over the years.
Challenge:
Rural women farmers in Batibo are poor, malnourished and lack enough food to feed their families. They work in their farms for long hours under rain in rainy season and intense sunlight in dry season but get low Yam yields.
Their farms lack agro-forestry trees that can provide shade, protect soil from erosion, improve biodiversity and conserve soil fertility as well as provide stakes for the yams and other needs. The soil in Batibo has the potential to produce much yams but has constrains because of the practice of slash-and-burn farming and scarcity of stakes for the yams. Most rural women farmers in Batibo depend on the forest for yam stakes because Yams need stakes to climb on in order to produce well and consequently causing deforestation.
Solutions:
CISEGD Cameroon partnered with PHP USA and 10 rural women groups in Batibo to promote the planting of fertilizer agro-forestry trees in Yam farmlands, transform animal waste to improve soils and educate rural women farmers on sustainable environmentally sound farming practices. The project will provide a long-term and sustainable solution to the threat of rapid devastating degradation of rural agricultural and forest landscapes, declining yams yields, extreme poverty and climate change that have plagued these communities over the years.
Long term impact:
With grant support from the Presbyterian Hunger Program PHP USA, The project will train and empower 500 rural women with basic skills and techniques in Agroforestry, Yam cultivation, Poultry and Organic fertilizer production. A total of 1000 birds will be donated to 10 women groups and 25000 nitrogen fixing trees will be nursed and planted on 2.5 hectares of yam farms to increase soil fertility, act as stakes and return biodiversity as well as mitigate climate change. if you are interested in contributing to a worthwhile and sustainable project to fight hunger, alleviate poverty and environmental degradation; We will gladly welcome your support in any form for this project .
