25% of teenage girls are mothers in Cameroon - World Bank

In Cameroon, 25.2 percent of girls aged 15 to 19 were either mothers or pregnant in 2011, according to data from the World Bank, compiled by Quandl.

"My aim was to tell the stories of girls becoming women too early in Africa," Patruno said in a statement provided to The Huffington Post. "Many girls in the village drop out of school, having sexual relationships with young boys and becoming pregnant before the age of 18 ... missing their childhood and adolescence."

Having children at a young age is risky in Cameroon: Girls aged 15 to 19 who give birth are at higher risk of dying due to their pregnancy, and also are at higher risk of infant or child mortality, according to the World Bank.

For many girls in Cameroon who survive their pregnancies, life becomes very challenging, Patruno said. Without education, he said, thousands of teenage mothers rely on cocoa farming in Cameroon's tropical highland forest to make a living.