IDB, gov’t invest FCFA 28 billion to empower Fulanis

The Islamic Development Bank, IDB, in partnership with the Government of Cameroon, has invested FCFA 28 billion in Livestock and Fisheries to empower the underprivileged Mbororo and Fulani Communities in Cameroon.

The FCFA 28 billion will also help these communities contribute to the increase in rural income and reduce poverty in the Northwest Region, in particular, and Cameroon, at large.

The revelation was made by the Director General of the Northwest Development Authority, MIDENO, John Begheni Ndeh in Yaounde, during a workshop organised by the National Platform of Civil Society for the Promotion of Land Governance in Cameroon.

Presenting the prospects of the Livestock and Fisheries Development Project, LIFIDEP, J.B Ndeh said the specific objective is to increase household income through increased production and productivity in the livestock and fisheries subsectors.

The project, he said, aims at developing the livestock, fisheries and fish farming, as a means to alleviate poverty.

“In the livestock sector, it is anticipated that the productivity of the local herd will be increased, leading to an increase in the production of beef and milk, and thus, increase in household revenues and cash flows and incomes,” he added.

He further remarked that the key results of the project are enhanced production efficiency and improved income of the poor livestock and fisheries farmers in the Northwest Region.

Pointing out constraints from the feasibility study carried out before the putting in place of the project, J.B Ndeh said one of the constraints to livestock production is frequent farmer/grazer conflicts.

He added that most of the land in rural areas of the Western Highlands do not have land certificates and is legally owned by the State. Conflicts between the farmers and grazers on land ownership were identified as the biggest problem.

Such conflicts, J.B Ndeh observed, have reoccurred in the same villages several times over the years, because, definite solutions have hardly been adopted.

He lamented that no adequate actions are being taken to prevent the rise of such conflicts in potentially disputable areas.

“Conflicts usually have crucial consequences such as; killing or injury of humans and animals and destruction of crops and granaries,” he said. In most conflicts, farmers accuse cattle grazers of letting their animals graze on cultivated land, destroying crops and bribing to gain favour from administrators.

He stated that the present project will promote the planting of improved pasture in order to encourage semi-intensive grazing. The project will also promote crop-livestock integration by encouraging practices such as Paddock Rotation systems in order to improve on the farmer-grazer relationship.

Added to this the project will be the promotion of community based and participatory methods of managing conflicts among crop farmers.

“Therefore, the successful implementation of this project for its six years life span will certainly serve as a lever for the attainment of the vision of the Head of State for Cameroon’s emergence by 2035”, Ndeh said.