But thirty lucky women farmers from Alou and Bafoussam in the southwest region, had a big break when they came together for a skills training session organized by Comité d’Assistance à la Femme Nécessiteuse du Cameroun (CAFENEC), an AWDF grantee.
The farmers were taught modern farming techniques for maize, the most widely cultivated cereal in Cameroon. Prior to this, most of their efforts were unsuccessful because of the lack of expertise in planting methods and fertilizers.
During pacing training, the women learned to measure their land by walking the length and width, each pace measured to equal a number of meters. These measurements are essential to ensure that farmers use the correct plant spacing and fertilization rates on their plots.
Success was immediate. Following the first set of training, trainees could already understand and explain the reasons for their previous failure and poor harvest.
“We now know why our crops did not grow well[…] this is because we plant different crops on the same piece of land. We put many grains in a hole instead of two and we do not respect the spacing between the holes,” said Monica Chumoh, a trainee who is president of a women farmers’ association.
After their training the participants were anxious to return to their communities to teach others. All are hopeful that their training will result in a boost in productivity and farm yields, which of course would translate to higher incomes.
Alou and Bafoussam were selected because of the plentiful and accessible land areas. CAFENEC has committed to help women farmers produce enough maize for their food security and income generation from individually owned one to three-acre plots.
The aim of the project is to improve rural livelihood and nutrition among households in Alou and Bafoussan and to ensure food security in beneficiary households.