Cap and Share

FIOH Sierra Leone – responding to climate change and Covid 19

ACTIVITY REPORT

PROJECT        :           Local response to climate change and Covid19

Funder          :           FIOH Fund -UK

COST              :           GBP 545

REPORTING DATE:  4^thJune 2020

Brief background

In a bid to integrate climate change in development projects, FIOH-SL in collaboration with FIOH-UK supported farmers to mitigate climate change through scaling up the adoption of regenerative agriculture. This involved farming practices that work together not just to sustain, but to increase the carrying capacity of the land, restoring the natural fertility of agro-ecosystems.  Core practise involves permanent soil cover with living plants, minimum or zero tillage, maximization of biodiversity, composting from zero waste in the farming system and reduction of agrochemicals with a view of their elimination.

FIELD ACTIVITY RESULT

Result of activity 1: Organize community sensitization meetings on climate change:

• Two community sensitization meetings were organized which attracted 50 participants, farmers, stakeholders, facilitator and participants to share learning on the following:

WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE?

Following the discussion on the literal understanding of climate change, participants also brainstorm, on the kinds of climate hazards.

• Heavy wind
• Increase in the frequency and magnitude of warm daily temperature (extremes and decreases)/prolong day seasons from October May)
• Frequency heavy precipitation/rainfall.
• Spring/small rivers completely dry up during the day season.

IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

• Water shortage
• Floods
• Heat waves
• Droughts
• Outbreak of infectious diseases.

 Traditional/cultural practices adopted in the past to mitigate climate change as:

• Establishment of fire belts around forest reserves in March.
• No bush clearing around water catchment areas.
• Secret society bushes as protected as forest reserves.
• Forest reserves known as village green surrounding the entrance of villages protected.
• Bush fallowing for 15 years to encourage regrowth.

RESULTS OF ACTIVITY 2 – Practical training on Agroecological/ farming.

25 farmers (15F,10M) received practical training (5 per session) of farm design, planting methods, plant spacing, zero or minimum tillage practice, composting from zero waste and field application. Monitoring results reveal that farmers are gradually adopting these practices on their own farms.

 

RESULTS OF ACTIVITY 3 – Seeds and tools support. Following the procurement of assorted seeds and tools, these items were distributed to farmer field school representatives.

FIOH-SL seeds and tools support to cross-section of farmers.

RESULTS OF ACTIVITY 4 – Seed multiplication and demonstration farms.

Two multiplication and demonstration farms were established in two communities using permaculture/agroecological principles – farmers working with natural forces or farming using natural approaches, the wind the sun and water to provide food, shelter, and everything else including compost, farm/ gardens needs beside seeds and plants. Any farm established using these principles is a permaculture /agroecological farm.

FIOH -SL support to the establishment of two permaculture farms.

CHALLENGES

• Overwhelming demand for the project activities by other FIOH operational communities in Tonkolili and Koinadugu districts.
• Frequent lockdown caused by Covid19 is affecting farm management.
• Lack of on farm hand washing stations to prevent Covid19.
• Farm work rationed with a batch of 5 Farmers per day as a result of Covid19.

 WAYS OF OVERCOMING CHALLENGES

• Overwhelming demands

Representatives from the demanding villages were included in the on-farm training and promised to be given some proceeds from the established multiplication farms as starter seeds to establish their own farms.  Development of community pilot projects by FIOH-SL is underway to service other communities.

• FREQUENT LOCK DOWN CAUSED BY COVID 19

  A detailed concept Note will be shared with National and International     donors for possible support.

LESSONS LEARNT.

Household food insecurity exacerbated by the global lock down by Covid19 reveal the extent that existing food systems (and the people underlying them) have been undervalued and under-protected.

Please support the work of the Future in Our Hands Education and Development Fund whose aim is to help and empower some of the world’s poorest and most marginalised people by:

• UK residents can provide long term support by completing the FIOH FUND DONATION FORM and sending to the address shown on the form:
• Direct grant to the charity’s bank account or by cheque to:        Bank account details:
  Co-operative Bank
  IBAN: GB07CPBK08929965050707
  BIC: CPBKGB22

Cheques should be made payable to the
Future in Our Hands E&D Fund
—————————————————————————-

Fundraising to help the work of the charities would be greatly appreciated

Future in Our Hands Kenya activities 2016

        FIOH-KENYA REPORT – 2016

1. WOMEN CREDIT UNION: The women have been going on well with their loaning program. The money received from Ebay boosted their kitty very well. The capacity building workshop held for the women groups has really motivated them and the results can be seen from their return reports.
2. THE YOUTH GROUP: The poultry project by Usoma Shiners youth group is still stable. The group now has 500 hens . This project was co–funded through FIOH-USA in 2013. The group plans to venture into fish farming by putting up a fish pond along Lake Victoria so as to preserve the rare species that are facing extinction due to use of poor fishing methods.
3. THE COW PROJECT: This is known as the Poor Man’s Bank Initiative whereby we fund women groups to purchase dairy cows that they can easily manage and take care of. They are taught to use the wastes from the cow to practice organic farming in their gardens so as to help in nutrition. The little money they get from sale of milk is used for subsistence.  So far, two groups have been funded and we have proposal for 4 more groups.
4. WELLS: The latest well in Wathorego Kibos is complete and is serving the residents well. All the other wells are in good working condition. The well was donated by a volunteer from USA at a cost of $3000. It serves approximately 300 households in this village with an average of 6 people per household. FIOH- K has identified 3 more villages that are in dire need of water i.e Mawego village, Seme Village and Alego. Both Geological and hydrological surveys have been carried out . We are looking for sponsors or donors to fund these projects. The wells that have been dug through donation from FIOH-USA have reached 20 in number.

5.TREE NURSERY: Due to the effect of global warming,
deforestation is rate is alarming. We have started a campaign
for reforestation in Kisumu County .We envisage to start tree
seedling nurseries in each of the 7 sub counties of Kisumu in
order to create awareness on importance of trees. It has not
rained since May. Even the long rains of April and May which
is normally used for planting season failed that people are
facing starvation. A proposal for this too is ready and has been
sent several organizations with no response yet.We are looking
for partners towards this endeavour.

6. COMMUNITY LIBRARY AND RESOURCE CENTER:

It was Rom’s wish and dream to have a community Library
and resource center in Usoma village where he taught for his
entire teaching career. This he said would stump out illiteracy
and create awareness among the vulnerable people in the
village. Land has been donated for this, and a proposal ready
for the same. We haven’t submitted the proposal to any
organization.

Our main partner is still FIOH-USA which primarily funds the
orphans education program and HIV and AIDS program.
Their resources are limited as they too depend on donors.
We are very much in contact with Sr.Linda and she visited for
2 months this year with another volunteer.

Paul Odhiambo, Co-ordinator.

          

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Centre for Community Regeneration and Development

ACTIVITY UPDATE AUG 2016

Education for sustainable development through sports in schools

CCREAD-Cameroon in continuation of its Education for Sustainable Development Programme, has mobilized more than 300 children and youths through environmental and conservation leadership camps, with sports as a uniting factor, to educate the children on climate change mitigation and adaptation, sustainable development goals, biodiversity conservation, sexuality and family planning, human rights, leadership and good governance. We need more volunteers for this ongoing programme.

ICT for development programme for youths within poor communities

CCREAD has set up a free ICT daily training unit which serves  children, women and youths from extremely poor countries to gain generational skills on computer and ICT skills for development. The facility also trains students daily who are enrolled in schools without computer laboratories so they can be able to take official examinations in computer sciences. This project needs more trainers and those who can support to buy more computers, a projector and more desks for trainees.

Sexual and reproductive health rights education for abandoned teenage and single mothers

CCREAD volunteers are currently organizing weekly workshops for 25 single and teenage mothers on sexual and reproductive health rights. The aim is to educate teenage mothers to stay away from sexual and different forms of gender base violence, organizing them into action groups and linking them up with mentors for social and economic empowerment.

Supporting women and widows living with disabilities

CCREAD is currently supporting unmarried women with children living with disabilities and who are not employed  through granting of micro financial support to start small micro enterprises which will enable them take care of themselves, send their children to school and meet their health needs. We have identified a total of 320 of such women with pressing needs and have been able to assist 15 of them already. We need more people to help this initiative.

To support any of these ongoing projects, kindly drop an email to: projects@ccreadcameroon.org

 

The advantages of cycling

The advantages of cycling
Why do so many people feel it necessary to acquire cars in the many parts of the affluent world where there are good public transport systems?  Even though the public transport networks are good in these regions, they could be so much better were it not for the congestion caused by far too many cars on the road!
For many the car is regarded as a necessity for both social and work demands and they would think that giving up the car would greatly diminish their quality of life.  The hope is that the following suggestions will prompt a rethink.

Whilst poverty and hunger are major causes of ill health for most people in the world, in the rich countries an increasing number of health problems are related to lack of exercise, over eating, drinking excessive alcohol and the over-use of both proscriptive and prescriptive drugs.  These are often refered to the ‘diseases of affluence’ but are also even more common amongst the poorer sections of the affluent society and often related to pollution and a poor diet coupled with lack of exercise.
Most people in the West have come to regard the car as a basic necessity.  Families without cars are now considered to be poor. Sadly this mentality is now spreading to many so called developing countries, especially in South East Asia, thus making transport a growing cause of respiratory health problems and global warming.
For example air pollution in Beijing has reached a crisis level (2015) .
It is hard to understand this love affair with the car given the stress, health problems, pollution, accidents and congestion it causes.  Yes it is often convenient, especially during inclement weather, but do the advantages of car travel outweigh the disadvantages, which include the initial purchase and running costs?   Has the car now become an extension of the home, like a new summerhouse, rather than just a means of getting around?

Congestion, pollution, fatal and serious accidents, environmental and aesthetic degradation are reasons enough to abandon cars as a means of transport, but to these must now be added new direct and indirect links car transport has to ill health, especially of children, and global warming.

For a very small number of people the car may be legitimately be regarded as a necessity.  However, the purpose of this web site is to urge most people, especially young people, to rethink their attitude towards transport and consider the role cycling has in improving health and reducing pollution and carbon dioxide emissions.

Cycling is good for your health and your pocket and the greater the number of people who give up their cars, or decide not to own one in the first place, the safer will be roads for cycling on and the greater the focus on providing safe routes for cyclists.   Also, public transport will become more economically viable and general efficiency will increase for those who must use vehicles for their business activities. Holiday and leisure facilities will become more pleasureable without the environment being spoilt by the presense of large numbers of cars.   Traffic congestion will also be reduced.

Cycling is good for your health
Most able bodied people should be able to use a bike for most journeys under 5 miles (Most car journeys are under 5 miles). Among the likely benefits of regular cycling are:

• The chances of getting a heart disease are likely to be cut by a half
• The likelihood of getting strokes, diabetes and some kinds of cancer will be reduced
• Improvement in general health
• Reduces the cost of travel.  In the UK alone 72% of all journeys are made by car of which 59% are less than 5 miles in length.  These shorter journeys are the most polluting ones and could be very easily shifted to cycling, public transport or walking.
• Bicycles occupy less road space than motor vehicles per person and increase the efficiency of existing roads.
• Bicycles offer door-to-door mobility and you are not constrained by public transport timetables.
• Bicycles can be obtained at reasonable cost, are reliable and economical to operate
• Cycling is a low-cost alternative transport option for people below driving age or without a car, especially in outer metropolitan areas and rural towns.
• Cycling is much faster than walking and, in congested urban areas, is as quick (or quicker) for short journeys as other forms of transport.
• About 16 bicycles can be parked in the space required for one car. Bicycles occupy less road space than motor vehicles per person and increase the efficiency of existing roads, while reducing wear and tear of road surfaces.
• Increased bicycle use by school children would result in savings in school transportation .
• Reduces stress and helps reduce weight.  The prevalence of obesity in England has tripled over the last 20 years and continues to rise. Most adults in England are now overweight, and one in five is obese. Nearly two thirds of men and over half of women in England are now overweight or obese.   And the problem in the UK is increasing faster than in most other European countries.   [  About 40% of older youths were overweight in 2015 ].  One third of the world’s population and are now overweight. One billion people in developed countries are obese.  This will significantly increase the incidence of associated diseases, such as coronary heart disease and diabetes.  Less than 50% of Americans get any real exercise, and less than 10% get enough.
• Surprisingly a person in a car will breath in more exhaust pollutants than someone riding a bike in the same situation.
• Can increase alertness and reduce tiredness at work.
• Cyclists are a considerable boon to other road users, but do motorists appreciate how little space cyclists take up on the road as opposed to a car?
  

Cycling can help make you feel good about yourself
Consider for a moment how much better you would feel arriving at the office after an invigorating morning bike ride, rather than a rushed and busy trip through morning traffic.  Or how about at the end of your busy work day, letting all of your stress melt away as you take a leisurely ride home on your bicycle, avoiding the even more stressful rush hour traffic?  It is likely that your trip home wouldn’t take much more time than traveling by car.  Also consider how much time you’ll save by not having to spend so much of it at the health club.  You may even decide to save some money and not sign up for membership during your cycling months.

If the money saving aspect is not all that important to you, consider the environmental benefits.  Bicycling is very environmentally friendly, and you’d be making a measurable contribution to its preservation.  It takes a great deal less of our planet’s resources to build a bicycle than it does to build and maintain a car.  Cyclists do not pollute the air with toxic gases or leak dangerous oil and antifreeze into the earth.  They also do not contribute to the growing problem of grid lock and noise pollution the UK is facing.   And just think how much friendlier people would be to one another if they were all on bicycles.  Think of how much less road rage there would be!

Cycling does not require so much exertion as jogging and can be carried on well into old age.

This may be too obvious to mention, but cycling will save you a lot of money.  The savings from swapping the car, bus or train for a bicycle are considerable.

Cycling can increase efficiency and profits for employers
Employers should consider the benefits they can gain by promoting bicycling, too.  Employees over-all health improves, the number of sick days that your company pays for are likely to decline (and if your employees do get sick, they’ll recover faster).  Medical costs decrease, your employees feel better (physically and emotionally), and they’ll be more effective and happier at their jobs.
Obesity accounts for about 18 million days of sickness absence each year and 30,000 premature deaths.  On average, each person whose death could be attributed to obesity lost nine years of life.  Treating obesity costs the NHS at least 4 billion a year (2011).  The total cost to the UK economy is estimated at £47 bil per year.  Two bil people in the world are overweight and this is likely to increase to a half by 2030.

Problems for cyclists
For some people the decision to abandon the car in favour of a bike requires some courage.  Probably the greatest disincentive to cycling is fear of accidents caused by motorised traffic.  Lack of consideration and yobbish behaviour on the part some people travelling by car towards cyclists can also be a problem.  However, it must also be said that the behaviour of some cyclists (like night riding without lights and inconsiderate behaviour towards pedestrians) can give cyclists a bad name.
There would appear to be a stong case for promoting the use of the bicycle as the primary means of transport for most journeys made across the world and provide more safe cycling routes in urban areas.

If you have ever struggled from a supermarket or city centre with a heavy load of groceries on each arm you might consider how much easier it might have been to carry the same load on a bike.  The picture on the left shows just how many items can be carried with ease on a bicycle – which can be wheeled around with you as you move from one shop to another.

If you think that using a bike for shopping might be time-consuming, then stop to consider the number of times you spent half an hour or more looking for a parking space and then several minutes to find the ticket machine and take the ticket back to your car.

With increasing concerns about global warming and the growing numbers of people with diseases related to obesity and lack of exercise, does it not make sense to use a bicycle for getting around whenever possible?

Cameroon Gender and Environment Watch

Cameroon Gender and Environment Watch (CAMGEW)
CAMGEW works to see social and environmental justice put at the centre of development.  It works with all age groups.  It works to see that the social welfare of children in Cameroon is improved, especially the girls who in many communities are deprived of opportunities to grow up to be future leaders.
It sees it necessary also to work to improve the lives of children in many rural and urban areas who lack the means to go to school and to meet their needs.  It does this by trying to meet their basic needs, instilling in them the spirit of positive thinking and encouraging them to strive for excellence.
It seeks also to build the capacity of women especially those in the rural areas where most women are poor farmers.  These women lack the agricultural skills and inputs to increase farm yields.  They also lack crop storage techniques and facilities.  This means they are unable to gain an income sufficient to meet their basic needs and pay for the education of their children.  They need to be empowered to be economic and social leaders.  Many of them are bread winners of their families.  CAMGEW also works to provide women and children with basic needs like water, food, education, energy and shelter.
It works with children, youths and the old to create environmental awareness. and works with children through environmental education to instil in them the spirit to grow up to live in harmony with nature.  It educates children about ecology e.g. rivers and lakes; marine ecosystems like the Atlantic ocean; land ecosystems like natural forests, botanical gardens, Zoos; pollution and waste management; gardening and tree nurseries.
It fights poaching, the bushmeat trade, illegal wildlife trade, deforestation, bushfires and climate change by trying to bring about a positive behavioural change in people involved in activities that are environmentally unfriendly.  To bring this change CAMGEW carries out sensitisation, lobbying and advocacy at various levels of the society (policy makers, private sector, civil society and grass root populations).
CAMGEW encourages organic farming by improving on soil fertility with organic matter and encourages household organic waste sorting for use in farms to increase crop yields and also as a means of managing household waste.  Agroforestry is another way CAMGEW promotes ecofarming.  This was a traditional method used to improve the soil.  It promotes integrated organic farming, horticulture (flower, vegetable and fruit farming) and apiculture (bee farming).

To discourage the use of plastic papers which are known to be non-biodegradable and to reduce the aesthetics of our environment, CAMGEW promotes the use of bags and baskets made from locally available materials like bamboo, jute, rattan etc that are biodegradable.  These bags and baskets have been used in the past when plastics were not yet common.  CAMGEW is building a campaign to see how biodegradable materials could be used for packaging instead of plastics.
The availability and affordability of modern energy is paramount to every development.  Many rural areas lack this energy because they are far away from the national grid and also because they cannot afford it.  Another, problem faced by Cameroon is the shortage of power due to dependency on one energy source – hydropower that is always affected by droughts brought by the changing climatic.
It promotes decentralised and diverse energy systems like small hyro, solar, wind and biogas systems exploited from the available natural energy sources like river fall, sun, wind and animal waste or plant matter respectively.  It also engages in a campaign to reduce dependency on environmentally unfriendly energy sources like fossil fuels.
It takes part in fighting climate change from four key perspectives – mitigation, adaptation, finance and technology as identified in the global Climate Change Conference that took place in Bali, Indonesia in December 2007.  During the Bali conference, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki moon said “no one-rich or poor-can remain immune from the dangers of climate change”.
To achieve all of above, CAMGEW uses media, gatherings, posters, newsletters and organised events like workshops.  It therefore, sees creativity and innovations as a way forward to solve the global problems that plague humanity.
These innovations and creative ideas therefore need to be replicated and/or scaled-up to tackle global challenges.  It believes that through partnership, networking, research and volunteerism this shared vision for long-term cooperative action among the people of the world to improve on lives and promote sustainable development, can be achieved.
A video showing activities at its vocational training centre in Oku can be seen here:

Centre for Community Regeneration and Development

Centre for Community Regeneration and Development
(CCREAD-Cameroon) is a youth led development organization established in 2004 and legally registered as a non profit organization in December 2006 with Registration Number: 379/AG/G.42/162/AJPAS under Cameroon Law of 1990 governing non political associations. CCREAD-Cameroon won the 2011-2012 World Bank Development Marketplace Competition on the promotion of good governance, is affiliated to Peace Child International, (UK), MIYC South Korea, an active member of United Network of Young Peacebuilders (Worldwide) and an NGO participant of UN Global Compact.  CCREAD-Cameroon is also in Special Consultative Status with UN-ECOSOC

Vision
CCREAD-Cameroon helps to empower marginalised children, youths, women and indigenous populations merged with environmental sustainability through united youth actions.

Mission
Working in response to adopted community driven strategic plans, CCREAD-Cameroon currently has a mission to enhance the social, economic, cultural and political empowerment of children, youths, women and indigenous groups for poverty alleviation, better community organization, improved governance/human rights and environmental conservation and management.

Objectives
The activities implemented by CCREAD-Cameroon are guided by the following objectives:

1. Increase the application of good goverance, decentralisation, and democratic practices in hard to reach/marginalized regions.
2. Reduce the high incidence of poverty among marginalized women and youths with focus on hard-to-reach forest communities.
3. Increase basic education and health facility access for children, women and youths in poor communities.
4. Foster peacebuilding and conflict resolution initiatives in selected communities.
5. Increase the respect of the rights of children, and women
6. Raise environmental sustainability awareness and promote management actions among youths.

Operational area
South West, North West, West and Eastern Regions of Cameroon as core regions.

Activities undertaken
Leadership and peacebuilding training for women and youths.  Through this activity, Cameroonian youths in Kupe Muanenguba Division through schools and women were drilled on leadership qualities, peacebuilding and conflict prevention/resolution skills mainstreamed with human resources management abilities/decentralisation education.  A total of 4,692 youths and 1,982 women have received training.

Leadership training
Recognizing that corruption remains a key development limiting factor in most sectors in Cameroon, CCREAD-Cameroon has also joined other stakeholders in fighting corruption starting with schools in 2011.  A national baseline study on the challenges of corruption and governance was completed and adopted.
A governance Education Manual was developed and 1,200 copies distributed to major stakeholders and 82 school anti corruption campaigns and advocacy forums were organised.
Schools management Boards were instituted and trained to fight and report corruption in schools in the South West Regions.
Governance training and fight against corruption campaigns were organised through youth actions.
Many inter tribal conflicts result from land problems and the marginalization of particular groups.  CCREAD-Cameroon has been responding to these problems by organizing communities into groups, educating them and assisting them to start group initiatives for poverty alleviation/solving land conflicts.

Training women and indigenous groups on project planning, fundraising and networking
Started in 2011, this project helps women and youths constituted into development common initiative groups on identifying community problems, documentation, elaboration of micro projects, finding and mobilizing resources, creating relevant partnership monitoring and evaluation/reporting of their result to the general public.  CCREAD-Cameroon has organized 12 regional trainings/follow-up workshops reaching 12 groups through 120 group leaders and members in the South West Region of Cameroon

Rise for Nature Programme
This is an integrated environmental sustainability programme which CCREAD-Cameroon launched in 2011 to respond to nature conservation and rural development needs in many hard-to-reach forest communities of Kupe Muanenguba region.  Activities were targeted towards forest and wildlife conservation unsustainable practices campaigns, environmental education through schools, climate change and adaptation education, instituting alternative livelihoods activities with indigenous forest communities and advocacy for the respect of the rights to benefits from natural resources. Through campaigns and field actions, 25 communities have been reached, 27 schools covered and 2 regional advocacy forums held by the end of 2012.

In many parts of Cameroon, women still experience violation of their sexual/reproductive rights, cultural and political rights  and exclusion from cultural inheritances.   By December 2012 CCRead organised 6 regional advocacy and education forums on the rights of women.  30 women leaders were trained on human rights education and counseling and over 2,000 human rights education leaflets were handed to policy and traditional leaders.

Women’ rights activities
CCREAD-Cameroon has continued the donation of hygiene and sanitation materials (toilets, water, waste management materials and facility management).  From 201o-2012, 5 toilets have been constructed for 5 community primary schools, 10 volunteer teachers were sent to teach in schools and 200 water drinking buckets and cups were distributed to school children.

Direct assistance to needy schools in marginalized forest communities
Working to end high mortality rates in rural communities CCREAD has focused on the training of traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) in  rural areas with emphases on communities with no health units.  In collaboration with BKFA, CCREAD-Cameroon distributes each month 500 birthing kits to rural women and community centers to help in safe and clean delivery.

Planned projects for the future

• Vocational training for youths and women on ICTs, Tailoring entrepreneurship, and leadership.
• Scaling up of youth leadership and governance training.
• School base peace, human rights, governance and environmental education.
• Start of Rise for Nature Program Phase 3 in 5 communities on environmental sustainability and climate change adaptation.
• Integrated poverty alleviation scheme for women and youths in need.
• Assistance to 10 schools through classroom and toilet constructions.
• Donation of birthing kits to rural women for safe and clean delivery

Team members
Hilary Ewang Ngide – Executive Director MS.c(Development/Environment, PGC(PPME), BS.c(Geo& planning)
Belinda Menyange – Programs Officer BS.c (Sociology/Anthropology)
Etienne Mponne – Projects officer BS.c (Environmental mgt)
Sylvie E. Epolle – Outreach manager LL.B
Cirus Msumbe Epie – Communications officer B.ED, Dip(Communications)
Ntungwe Remitus – Administrator LLB, Dip in PME
Lucy Etuge – Partnerships BA, Community development
Lyn Tim – Outreach Assist. LLB, Dip HRM
Anna Dressler – Coordinator.

Future in Our Hands Womens Co-operative, Oku

Future In Our Hands Cooperative Oku
FIOH Oku is a women’s farming cooperative made of over 5 Common Initiative Groups (CIGs) representing over five villages in Oku Subdivision.  It was created on the 22nd of September 1999.  It encourages the spirit of hard work, cooperation and togetherness in women.  It is called a women’s cooperative because 95% of members are women.  Her creation was thanks to the interest SHUMAS NGO and Future Our Hands had to empower women and the vulnerable in the Oku community.  It has as motto: educate a man, educate an individual; educate a woman to educate a whole nation.  This is because of the socio-economic importance of a woman in the purely African village community like Oku.  Some of the projects realised by FIOH-Oku:-

• Improving the processing and transformation of corn and cassava through mills and haulers donated by SHUMAS and her partners.
• Offering loans to members at very minimal interest rates through a scheme developed by SHUMAS.
• Through SHUMAS there has been the development of community health infrastructure for the village of Lui.
• Regular production of organic food crops and other natural products for income generation and food security.
• Attending agro-pastoral shows to market their produce.
• Training and practising sustainable and integrated farming and livestock productions methods amongst her members.
• Training and application of agroforestry techniques to her membership.

Oku is located in Bui Division of the North West Region of Cameroon.  It is made up of 36 village communities mostly living along the slopes of the Kilum Mountain.  The people depend mostly on forest resources, subsistence agriculture, cash crop farming, livestock production and local artisan work for their livelihood.  The Kilum Ijim Forest found in the community is a naturally preserved moist montane forest with a surface area of about 20,000 hectares.  It is located in the Mount Oku Ridge in the Bamenda Highlands and forms part of the High Plateaus Agro-ecological Zone of Cameroon.  The geographic location of the area is latitude 6°07’N – 6°17’N and longitude 10°20’E – 10°25’E.  It has very important and threatened Afro-Montane endemic animal and plant species such as Prunus africana amongst others.  It is an internationally important biodiversity hotspot and a critical zone for carbon sequestration within the High Plateaus Agro-ecological Zone.
The Kilum area is one of the highly populated locations in Africa and Cameroon in particular, accommodating 144,800 people occupying about 328 km2 (439.3persons/km2); hence, high pressure on resources is inevitable.  There has been progressive deforestation and degradation mainly due to agricultural expansion, forest fire and overgrazing.  Fuel wood harvesting has also been a major cause of deforestation and forest degradation.  The late 1980s decline in coffee prices triggered many farmers to migrate further up the slopes in search of new land to increase income through alternative crops.

Within two years of its formation the activities of the co-operative had a profound positive impact on the lives of the women:

Former situation

1. We were scattered and never cared to come together because we did farming far away from our homes because of the eucalyptus trees that were planted around our homes by men.
2. We thought that only men had the right to inherit the property of parents.  We never attended seminars and training programmes.
3. We were shy to express ourselves among men and only played the part of listening.
4. Our opportunities for income-generation were very limited.
5. We thought HIV/AIDS was a curse from God and an opportunity for white people to sell us condoms.
6. We thought that bread and cakes production was the duty of men.  We did not know the importance of business – buyam sellam.
7. If a woman was illiterate when she married we thought this was the last chance for her to become literate.
8. Single parents had to resort to work on farms just to feed the family. They had insufficient income for their children’s education.
9. Women believed that only men had the right to determine how many children they should bear.
10. Husbands decided which political party their wives should vote for in Elections.
11.  Only men had the right to erect buildings and got the credit for doing so despite the help of women.
12. Men brought in second wives without the consent of the first wife, claiming it is their right.
13. Women thought only of their own needs and rarely discussed problems together.  We did not engage with women from other villages.
14. Widows used to sleep on bare floors in very smokey houses that constituted a breeding ground for germs and diseases.

Current situation

1. We now farm around our homes and have enough time to come together.  Children now attend school as they do not have to come with us to distant farms.  We have gained experience by coming together e.g. joined savings and credit groups with small interest charged on loans. We now have small businesses that help to solve some of our problems like paying for school fees and drugs.  We are healthy and do not have to rely on our husbands for money.
2. We have attended many seminars organised by SHUMAS and the Diocesan Commission for Justice and Peace, Bishops House, Kumbo, Human Rights agent and the International Federation of Female Lawyers in Cameroon.
3. Now we express ourselves freely because of the lectures from SHUMAS and human rights agent who told us that every person is the same before the law and has the right to express his/her views freely.
4.  We now produce tablet and powder soap and hire a hand cart for transporting items.
5. Through seminars we have learned that HIV/AIDS is real.  We go out to schools and talk on the rural radio about the dangers and the precautioins that must be taken.  There have been significant changes in sexual behaviour as a result.
6. We now have our own small bakery and members can take part in bread making and poff poff production.  We sell what we make and employ male youths to carry to far distant places by motorbike to sell.
7. The eucalyptus replacement project has enabled women to have more time to engage in adult literacy classes.  These include married women who were once illiterate.
8. FIOH Oku has encouraged single parents to join the co-opertive and learn how to engage in income generating activities.  The co-operative has provided them with small loans and they are now able to sell items in the market.  Some have been able to send their children to school and have given testimonies on how their lives have improved.
9. From the lectures and seminars women became more aware that men and women should jointly agree the number of children they should bear.
10. Through the education of the human rights agent and messages from Mike Thomas of the FIOH UK Fund, women now know their rights to vote in their own right.
11. Women now realise that they can take the initiative in putting up a building.  Our women have bought a plot of land and have erected their own meeting hall.
12. Through the co-operative we have taught women the importance of marriage certificates and various types of marriage .  If monogamy is the choice then men have no right to bring in a second wife or mistress.
13. We now have exchange visits with other womens co-operatives in our network.  We exchange ideas and learn from each others experience.
14. Now most women, especially FIOH women, do not now sleep in such houses.  When their husbands die they sit in a special room with friends who comfort them.

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Environment and Rural Development Foundation

Environment and Rural Development Foundation (ERuDeF) is a Cameroonian non-profit organization founded in 1999.  It is the only indigenous non-profit organization working on research and conservation of great apes in Cameroon.

 

Background
The Lebialem Highlands (LH) have a history of poaching and unsustainable agricultural practices over the last several decades.  These Highlands are situated in the South West Province, Cameroon.  This project seeks to introduce a community-led micro-credit initiative through the creation of an environmental protection fund which will serve both as a revolving fund and provide start-up grants to the most impoverished farming groups that continue to farm and construct on marginal and fragile lands.  This is a project of the Environment and Rural Development Foundation (ERuDeF), which was initiated in 2001 to protect and conserve the montane and lowland rainforest ecosystems in and around LH and improve on the quality of living of the local inhabitants. 

The Highlands cover an area of 1,323 sq km comprising forest lands, sub-montane, montane and grassland habitats.  The Highlands lodge many species of endangered plants and animals including elephants, gorillas, chimpanzees, drills, crocodiles, tortoise and red list data plants.  It is one of the only three mountain regions in Cameroon still having a continual graduation from 180m to 2510m above sea level.

The LH area is one of the poorest areas in Cameroon.  Very low levels of income (usually less than $ 0.5 a day), limited land management skills, lack of credit facilities, lack of market access and lack of medical care, characterize all the communities in the region especially those bordering the forest areas and those completely lacking access routes.  Their economy is essentially that of hunting, gathering and fishing.  Their agricultural potentials are low especially as they continue to farm on marginal lands prone to landslides every year and their economic options are low due to lack of market access.  However, the vast non-timber forest products present one of the opportunities for exploration to raise the incomes of the rural people.

The majority of the peasants have no access to credit facilities. The Cameroon Credit Union League (CAMCCUL), the main micro-finance institution in the country field, has offices located very far away from most of these communities and can only serve a very tiny proportion of the over 30,000 indigenous people living here.

Most people here rely on an informal network of money lenders who often charge very high interest rates (> 50%) and will seize poor farmer’s properties if interest payments or debts are not repaid.
In this context many farmers and young people have no choice but to encroach into the neighbouring protected areas and the marginal lands in search of farm land at little or no cost.  Struggling with debts, these local farmers, who for the most part have no access routes, have no choice but to resort to heavy poaching, poisoning of rivers for fishing, illegal logging and land encroachment.  This is causing the unsustainable exploitation of the wildlife resources, especially the endangered fauna.

In the Highlands area the continual cropping of marginal lands leads to several landslides each year which have, in the recent past, led to hundreds of deaths and destruction of houses, productive forests and arable land.  Research conducted between 1999 and 2002 has shown that game harvesting is twice the sustainable off-take.  This research has also shown that one of the legally protected species, the leopard, in the neighbouring wildlife sanctuary, has become extinct. There are fears that another protected species, the giant pangolin, may also have become extinct.  This situation can only be reversed through the improvement of the socio-economic environment of the adjacent local communities.  The conservation objectives of the area will be compromised if nothing is done.

Within this context, ERuDeF realized that the problem of debt and poverty had to be dealt with if livelihoods and the endangered biodiversity of the region are to be fully protected.  It is within this framework that ERuDeF is seeking to establish an innovative community-based led micro-credit system that will be opened to all the local communities and even those having no collateral as required by many micro-finance institutions.  ERuDeF is helping to organize the communities across the region into constituted community-based institutions that will facilitate the process of all the local people having access to this credit facility.

This credit system, called the Lebialem Highlands Environmental Protection Fund (LHEPF), will be run by a democratically elected committee that will be composed of at least 50% women.  The women are the most affected in terms of poverty and more than 55% of the women are found below the poverty line.
The main objective of the LHEPF is to promote sustainable income generating activities and reduce illegal harvesting of wildlife resources and cropping of marginal lands. This credit system is part of a wider programme of micro-enterprise support, capacity building and sustainability being led by ERuDeF.  ERuDeF is seeking financial support to help implement these activities.

ERuDeF’s sustainable development programme activities are meant to improve livelihood sustainability and increase the local community members’ capacities to repay loans, remain solvent and expand on their existing micro-enterprises.  This project will provide both start-up grants to cooperating farmers and youths and credit facilities to enable them to expand on their micro-enterprises.

The micro-credit system operates on the following principles: local people get loans for ecologically beneficial and income generating micro projects provided they do not poach or crop on marginal lands and or log illegally.  Very low interest rates of less than 5% will be charged generally.  Impoverished farming groups with no collateral will be given start-up grants.  Criteria for selecting loan and start-up grants recipients will include the viability of the proposed activity, repayment capacity and market demand.  The LHEPF will also establish what actions will be taken if members fail to pay back loans or meet environmental criteria.

ERuDeF will ensure that beneficiaries will focus on mixed cropping and on cultivating products with high market value but with low environmental impact.  Such systems involve community forestry, agroforestry and consist of planting a combination of fast & slow growing tree species on marginal lands.  This will permit them to get an average minimum income from fast growing species while the high value but slow growing hardwood species will mature with time. This approach will also allow the land to restore itself.  The micro-credit initiative will also support a system of local enterprises which yield high-return products with low impact on the fragile highlands environments.  ERuDeF will promote such enterprises as beekeeping, mushroom cultivation, livestock, tree nurseries, snail rearing, eco-tourism, non-timber forest products processing etc.
This is an innovative mechanism through which micro-credit initiatives will be interwoven with wider efforts to improve the incomes of lower and most affected impoverished groups and jobless rural youths. Sustainability will be ensured by aligning ecologically sound micro-enterprises with the actual demands of the market and biodiversity management.

This is a three-year pilot initiative which will serve over 30,000 farm families.  After this start-up phase, the revolving fund system will become sustainable as money given out during the first year will be repaid in the second year – and the cycle will continue.  The main micro-enterprises will include cultivation of cola nuts, tree nurseries and reforestation, beekeeping, NTFP processing and marketing, mushroom farming, snail rearing, wildlife domestication, livestock, agro-forestry and community forestry development and exploitation.

The Environment and Rural Development Foundation (ERuDeF) is a Cameroonian non profit organisation formed in 1999 as a membership organisation.  Its mission is to conserve wildlife and protect fragile environments and to improve upon the wellbeing of indigenous peoples in particular and the quality of human life on earth in the regions where it operates.  Its focal programmes include biodiversity conservation, forest landscape restoration, sustainable development, women and gender and education and training. ERuDeF staff, members, its associates and partners have over a decade of experience in the implementation and management of conservation and rural development projects in Cameroon.  Its expertise expands to include but not limited to finance, project development, sustainable development, conservation, gender and education.