Cameroon to rationalize its agriculture

The North West Farmers’ Organisation (Nowefor) is a federation of unions of Common Initiative Groups (CIGs), created by farmers for farmers. Individually, Cameroon farmers were lacking in farm inputs, market outlets, technical know-how and funding. Aware of these problems, Nowefor sought to help them through:

- the development and the promotion of their economic activities,

- the enhancement of their technical know-how through the learning of a judicious management of the human resources,

- the protection of their interests,

- the search for alternative resources,

- the improvement of the members’ income and its balance between women and men.

Thus, Nowefor’s focus on organisation and management of resources for the fundamental needs of their society led a large number of farmers to join the institution. As a federal union, Nowefor demands that a union consists of at least 50 farmers who are carrying out either productive activities (food and/or cash crop production: corn, beans, groundnuts, potatoes, vegetables, coffee, etc. ; livestock production: pigs, goats, sheep, poultry and cattle ; fish rearing ; bee farming) or arts and crafts activities (like embroidery). It is worth mentioning here that even non members can benefit from financial, material and technical assistance. As long as they show interest in Nowefor’s activities and participate to the achievement of its four main goals.

- Education: through workshops, seminars, training sessions and exchange visits, the farmers learn dialogue and cohesion.

- Economic development: a micro-finance development project known as North-West Farmers’ Organisation Credit House (Nowefoch) mobilises local financial resources and grants loans.

- Commerce: a Nowefor multipurpose shop has been created in order to ensure the availability and the quality of the farm products and to ease their sale.

- Communication: considering the importance of communication in any development process, Nowefor has come up with a newsletter called "Nowefor Info" to keep farmers informed of the latest news in the field of rural and agricultural development.

Nowefor works with partners such as government agencies, non-governmental organisations, foreign private donors, farmers’ organisations, networks intervening in the same field and resource persons. Today, North-West farmers can obviously notice an improvement of their living standard. They are now able, through the support of Nowefor and access to good quality fertilisers and other farm inputs, to meet with their daily needs like child education or healthcare.

Nowefor now hopes that more and more farmers’ organisations in the North-West Province of Cameroon shall join them, so that the country shall be supplied with increased and sustainable production in order to fight against poverty.