Improving Farm Livelihoods in Cameroon
Pauline Wagai is a hardworking farmer in Djingliya Montagne, a hilly village that lies at the northern foot of the Mandara Mountains in northern Cameroon. Pauline’s life is governed by one principle: hard work. Every day, she teaches her children to never be discouraged in life and to always work very hard.
Pauline has been living with a disability since she was four years old. She’s faced a lot of challenges in her life. When her marriage ended she was left to raise her seven children by herself.
Pauline sees better harvests after a training through the STaR II project that introduced organic compost and pesticides production using natural herbs
Photo by Mabel Chenjoh/CRS
“We struggled to eat daily,” Pauline says.
Pauline’s family gave her shelter and a piece of land on which she began cultivating maize using the traditional farming techniques she learned from her parents.
In 2022, Pauline was selected to participate in the Stabilization and Reconciliation in the Lake Chad Region Project, or STaR II, which is implemented by Catholic Relief Services and local partner Caritas Maroua-Mokolo, with funding from the German Development Bank. The project supports communities in the Far North region whose lives have been threatened by food insecurity, conflict, and climate change. It also improves access to basic infrastructure and services, equipping families with tools and skills to set up or improve livelihoods, reinforcing social cohesion and improving local governance.
Through STaR II, Pauline was trained to produce organic compost and pesticides. She was also trained on post-harvest management and how to partition her farmland using stone ridges to avoid soil erosion. During the 2023 farming season, Pauline produced organic compost and pesticides, which she used on her maize farm and improved her yield.
Pauline Wagai and her youngest son use organic compost that she produced to prepare her farmland for the approaching season.
Photo by Mabel Chenjoh/CRS
“After I harvest, I usually have three to five bags of dried maize from my farm, but last year I had eight bags,” Pauline says. “The eight bags do not include the fresh maize, which I and the children ate during the harvest season. I still have enough corn to feed my family until the next farming season.”
Pauline is not only dependent on her farming activity, but she is also part of a Savings and Internal Lending Community, or SILC group, called “N’heschedva,” which means “we are striving.” The SILC group was initiated by the STaR II project. As a member of the savings group, Pauline makes weekly savings and obtains very low interest loans, which she uses to run other income generating activities. She sells locally produced peanut cooking oil, peanut cakes, locally produced beverages, donuts and salt, and she’s able to send her children to school.
Pauline Wagai received agricultural training through the Stabilization and Reconciliation in the Lake Chad Region Project.
Photo by Mabel Chenjoh/CRS
Pauline says she is determined to pass on the knowledge she’s acquired from the STaR II project to her children. She has taught her older children how to produce compost and pesticides and they are also helping the younger children to learn. Pauline intends to continue applying the good agricultural practices and to help other farmers in her community to do the same.
#######
The Stabilization and Reconciliation in the Lake Chad Region Project, or STaR II, is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation (BMZ) and Development via the German Development Bank (KfW). Phase I of the project started in 2019 in Chad, Niger, and Nigeria, while Phase II launched in September 2021 and expanded to include Cameroon. The project has activities under four components, including infrastructure development/rehabilitation, economic revitalization, social cohesion, and local governance. In Cameroon, CRS partners with Caritas Mokolo, to implement the project. Since 2021, the STaR II project has supported about 13,600 people by improving access to basic infrastructure and services, enhancing livelihoods, reinforcing social cohesion and improving local governance.
