1,720,965 research outputs found
How Prepared are Cameroon's Cocoa Farmers for Climate Insurance? Evidence from the South West Region of Cameroon
No full textAbstractIt is a truism that Cameroon's agricultural sector in general and the cocoa sector in particular has been hit by climatic vagaries with telling repercussions. Cocoa (Theobroma cacao Linn.) production remains one of the main cash crops in Cameroon with over 90% of households in the cocoa producing areas depending on it for their income. Cameroon ranks fifth in the world in cocoa production which has a significant contribution to her economy. This important sector is exposed to climate-related shocks requiring mitigation and adaptation strategies. From an economic perspective, climate-insurance has been suggested as one of the solutions to this problem, as an option to reduce farmers’ vulnerability. However, there is little or no information on farmers’ preparedness and willingness to pay for climate –related insurance. This article therefore seeks to ascertain the level of preparedness of farmers to sue for climate insurance in cocoa producing areas in Cameroon. We randomly selected 10 cocoa farmer cooperatives drawn across the main cocoa producing divisions of the South West Region - a major cocoa producing region in Cameroon. We combine a structured questionnaire survey with focus group discussions to assess cocoa farmers’ awareness, knowledge, perception, level of preparedness and challenges to adopting climate insurance. Furthermore, we interview insurance authorities within the region on existing insurance policies. This information is complemented through field observations and review of relevant literature. We employ descriptive and correlation analysis to assess cocoa farmers’ perceptions and level of preparedness for climate insurance. We observe that there is a direct statistically significant relationship between farm sizes, level of diversification and awareness, and farmers’ preparedness (P≤0.05). Income levels showed a significant but indirect relationship with level of preparedness. Poverty, uncertainty, and weak institutions operating with policies that do not consider farmers’ realities were key challenges to climate-insurance preparedness. Based on the results we recommend that (i)insurance bodies should undertake feasibility study on the possibilities of instituting friendlier policy for farmers, (ii) farmers should sensitized on the relevance of insurance policies to support cocoa farming in the face of climate vagaries, (iii) farmer groups should strengthen cooperative spirit to ease access to pro-poor insurance policies; and (iv) government should work in partnership with insurance bodies to support farmers through more climate-friendly insurance policies which can be accessed by farmers irrespective of their levels of diversification, income and farm sizes
Building an Indigenous Agro-pastoral Adaptation Framework to Climate Change in Sub-Saharan Africa: Experiences from the North West Region of Cameroon
No full textAbstractSub-Saharan Africa (SSA), among other regions of the world, stands today as one of the hardest hit areas as far as the concomitants of climate change is concerned. This is particularly the case with the agro-pastoral sector which is the lifeblood of most of the economies of this region with about 85% of the indigenous populations relying on agriculture for their survival. Both long and short term climatic oscillations have succeeded to disrupt crop and livestock output thus signaling threats to food security. Although the communities have either consciously or unconsciously made use of some indigenous adaptation strategies, they are judged to be weak at the moment. This requires the designation of context-specific agro-pastoral adaptation frameworks. Using focus group discussions (FGDs) of 6 agro-pastoral groups (10 representatives each) in this region, complemented by field surveys and the extensive review of literature on case studies for other SSA communities, we analyze the knowledge, perceptions and adaptation strategies for individual agro-pastoral households in rural Cameroon. Our analysis of data leads us to conclude that future climatic situation is characterized by increasing unpredictability, introducing shocks of varying degrees in the crop and livestock sector necessitating varying formal and informal mechanisms. Current adaptation measures rely mainly on crop diversification and mixed farming. Although these methods are good, the scale of operation and the degree of diversification is still low to climate-proof the agro-pastoral sector. Furthermore, these changes are introduced in the midst of poor farming practices such as slash and burn and ankara systems. Current indigenous adaptation strategies are weak and have a connection with income levels, level of farmers organizations, knowledge and perception
Government and Non-Governmental Organisation Led Agricultural Development Projects and the Accumulation of Social and Economic Capitals in Mezam, Cameroon
Full text linkGovernment (GO) and Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) undertake agricultural development projects especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where agriculture-dependent livelihoods are predominant. Agricultural development has been accompanied by a theoretical debate vis-à-vis who is best placed to steer the process. Unfortunately, empirical evidence to refute or ramify the theoretical contestations are extremely limited. This article contributes to the literature by comparatively analyzing the effects of GO) and NGO–led agricultural development projects on social and economic capitals in Cameroon. Mixed methods were applied on stakeholders of four selected GO-led and four NGO-led development projects in Mezam division in the North West region of Cameroon, chosen due to its long history of having both GO and NGO-led agricultural development projects. A structured questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from randomly selected 180 beneficiaries, including 90 from GO and 90 from NGO projects, and 120 project staff that is 15 (2 top, 5 middle and 8 lower management) per retained organization. Recall was applied to construct before-after comparisons with interviewees, in the absence of baseline information. In-depth interviews and observations were done with selected project staff and beneficiaries, respectively. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS version 25.0, while qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. Results show significant increase in the growth of social and economic benefits for respondents from both GO and NGO-led projects (p < 0.05), though higher for NGO-led projects. The study concludes that agricultural development by both organizational types can enhance social and economic development. Further studies are needed to ramify these results. Comparative analyses between project staff and beneficiaries can highlight any differences in them, in terms of perceptive and actual impacts of GO and NGO-led agricultural projects on social and economic capitals. Comprehensive assessments based on all livelihood capitals are recommended to ground these contentions
Does Belonging to a Farmer Organization Improve Extension Access? A Study of Cocoa Farmers in Fako Division, Cameroon
No full textThe literature on farmer-organization membership and access to agricultural extension services (AES) reports mixed findings, motivating further empirical study. This paper examines whether membership in farmer organizations (FOs) improves access to AES among cocoa farmers in Fako Division, Cameroon. Using structured questionnaires, primary data were collected from 396 randomly selected cocoa farmers. Descriptive statistics were first used to summarise sample characteristics (including FO membership status and gender) and the distribution of AES access. To address the specific objectives, a chi-square test was used to evaluate the bivariate association between FO membership and AES access, and a binary logistic regression was used to assess the effect of FO membership on AES access while controlling for education, farm size, age, and gender. Results show a large disparity in AES access: 83.5% of FO members reported access to extension services compared to 34.8% of non-members (difference ≈ 49 percentage points). The chi-square test confirmed a strong association between FO membership and AES access (χ² = 57.82, p < .001). The logistic regression model was statistically significant, χ²(5) = 116.45, p < .001, with a Nagelkerke R² of 0.42, indicating that the predictors explained about 42% of the variance in AES access. FO membership was the strongest predictor (B = 1.84, SE = 0.28, OR = 6.30, p < .001), meaning members were over six times more likely to access AES than non-members. Years of education also had a positive and significant effect on AES access (B = 0.11, SE = 0.04, OR = 1.12, p = .008), while farm size showed a marginal effect (B = 0.07, SE = 0.03, OR = 1.07, p = .089). Age (B = –0.01, p = .215) and gender (coded 1 = Male; B = 0.15, p = .495) were not significant predictors. The Conclusion was that membership in farmer organizations substantially increases cocoa farmers’ likelihood of accessing agricultural extension services in Fako Division, and education further improves farmers’ ability to obtain those services. Based on these findings, we recommend strengthening of farmer organizations, promoting inclusive membership, and formally integrating FOs into extension delivery systems to improve the equity and effectiveness of service access
Applying Relativity in Understanding Poverty and Promoting Economic Development in Rural Africa
Full text linkCombating poverty remains a major hindrance to economic development across Africa, even though it is well known that the poor are generally concentrated in rural areas. Paradoxically, identifying and targeting development efforts to the (very) poor remains a major challenge, mainly due to data deficiency and the wide application of popular but poorly adapted absolute poverty assessment approaches. This paper succinctly revisits the comparative advantages of relative over absolute poverty measures, and their prospects for application in rural Africa. Claims in favour of the relative approach are then substantiated by its application to empirically elicit poverty distribution among households in rural Cameroon. Analytical results fundamentally based on principle component analysis strengthen our advocacy for a dominant application and better prospects for relative poverty assessments over absolute ones, especially in rural areas of developing countries such as Cameroon, where data unavailability persists. In addition, the holistic and multi-dimensional attributes embedded in the relative approach oblige an atonement of its overarching prospects for identifying and targeting the poor in order to fight poverty and enhance economic development, especially in rural areas in Africa, as demonstrated in the Cameroonian case study
Improving Cocoa Processing and Marketing for Conservation in the Mount Cameroon National Park Communities: Challenges and Way Forward
No full textAlthough the cocoa sector has a long standing history as a key income generating activity (IGA) that contribute to the improvement of the livelihoods of communities within the Mount Cameroon National Park (MCNP), it is faced with a number of challenges especially with respect to processing (fermentation and drying) and marketing. These stand as a constraint to conservation (increased wood usage and low incomes). Using focus group discussions (FGDs) within 10 farmer field schools (FFS) consisting of ten participants each (7 male 3 female), we assessed the current processing and marketing situation within the MCNP and their implications for conservation, identified key areas of intervention to improve on cocoa fermentation, drying, marketing and cooperative formation, including training and certification. In addition, we assessed the challenges involved in improving the cocoa sector by enhancing the adoption of modern methods of processing and marketing to guarantee conservation within the MCNP. We established that a majority of the farmers in the MCNP make use of local methods of cocoa fermentation and drying. Furthermore, more than 80% of the farmers depend on the informal marketing while less than 20% of the cocoa farming populations have successfully gone through training and certification at FFS, and approximately 20-30% of the farmers are affiliated to cooperatives. The study recommended a number of interventions at the level of cocoa fermentation and drying, the elimination of the informal market chain, the intensification and harmonization of training and certification programs, and the institution of possible synergies
DETERMINANTS OF ADOPTION OF CERTIFIED COCOA PRODUCTION IN MEME DIVISION, SOUTH WEST REGION OF CAMEROON
Full text linkThis paper examines the determinants of adoption of certified cocoa production with a view to find means increase the pace of adoption of certified cocoa production in order to improve on the livelihood of cocoa farmers, carried out in Meme division, South West region of Cameroon. The multistage purposive and random sampling technique was used to get a sample of 400 cocoa farmers or producers, from whom necessary information were elicited using questionnaires. Data was analyzed with descriptive statistics and binomial logistic model. The results revealed that 26% of respondents have adopted certified cocoa production with the performance and penetration index of 1%. Moreover the results also revealed that age of respondent, productivity, access to extension services, access to credit, off-farm income, profitability and farm size were statistically significant factors influencing adoption of certified cocoa production. Also level of education, marital status, access to input and perceived risk were positive and statistically not significant factors the influence adoption of certified cocoa production while gender and household size were not statistically significant and negatively influence adoption of certified cocoa production. It can be concluded that the main hindrance of adoption certified cocoa production is inadequate sensitization. This implied that awareness creation by the actors is inadequate. It was recommended that sensitization of farmers should reinforced and also all factors that significantly affect adoption of technologies be improved
Profitability Analysis of Selected Garden Crops in Santa Subdivision of North West Region in Cameroon
Full text linkAims: To undertake a profitability analysis of selected garden crops (leek, celery, carrot, and cabbage) in the Santa subdivision, North West Region of Cameroon, in order to determine the crop with the highest financial returns.
Study Design: Cross-sectional survey.
Place and Duration of Study: Five village communities in Santa subdivision a key gardening hub in Mezam division, North West Region of Cameroon, between 2023 and 2024.
Methodology: Empirical data was collected from 307 farmers (97 leek farmers, 80 celery farmers, 70 carrot farmers, and 61 cabbage farmers) through a cross-sectional survey. Profitability analysis, Net Farm Income Margin (NFIM), Economic Farm Income (EFI), and Return on Investment (ROI) were performed for each crop and compared. Production costs and revenue were calculated for each crop.
Results: Leek cultivation incurred the highest production cost (FCFA 2,265,011.27/ha), followed by celery (FCFA 2,321,519.81/ha), carrot (FCFA 1,925,666.23/ha), and cabbage (FCFA 1,380,926.47/ha). Leek cultivation generated the highest revenue (FCFA 3,661,353/ha). Economic farm income (EFI) analysis revealed the highest profit for leeks (FCFA 2,294,558.64/ha), and a return on investment (ROI) of 1.01, followed by celery, carrot, and cabbage in descending order of profit relevance. Overall, leeks performed financially better than the other studied garden crops.
Conclusion: Leeks can generate higher revenue and profits followed by celery, carrots, and cabbage in the Santa subdivision. Profitability analysis is a prerequisite for investing in gardening when optimizing profit is the ultimate goal. Further research in other contexts is needed to confirm if this trend persists across space and time.
**Note: 1 USD ≈ 610 FCFA (West African Financial Community Franc
The effects of Adopting Technological Innovations on Rice Value Chain Actors in Cameroon
Full text linkThe outcomes of adopting technological innovations remain debatable, in spite of its importance. With multiple innovations available in the sector, not all adopters’ benefit at same the magnitude. The majority of agricultural technology adoption studies analyze adoption effects on a single actor, often neglecting other actors on the value chain; limiting knowledge of adoption rates and their effects on entire value chains. Studying adoption choices and effects among multiple actors on the value chain can provide novel insights of scientific and policy relevance. This study examines the adoption of innovations by multiple rice value chain actors and adoption effects on actors’ performance in Cameroon. The multi-stage sampling technique was applied to identify and collect data from 800 rice value chain actors, using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regressions were performed to identify adopted innovations; and their income effects respectively, using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Female actors (55%) dominated the rice value chain compared to males (45%). Mean rice production per actor was 8,011kg/year, generating a mean income of FCFA (Franc Communauté Financière Africaine) 1,201,650.00 (US$ 2,031.23). The number of adopted innovations varied across value chain actors (farmers:7, millers:8, wholesalers:5, and retailers:4). Overall, 13 of the 21 adopted innovations (~62%) had significant effects on actors’ incomes (P = 0.000). Some innovations (owning mobile phones, mobile money accounts, and engaging in mobile money transfers) were adopted by all actors; however, most adopted innovations were actor-specific; indicating differences in actors’ technology preferences. The most important effect of technology adopted was increased food consumption, reported by 100% of all actors. We contend that food security is a prime motive for adopting rice innovations in the study site. We further recommend active participation of actors along the rice value chain in selecting preferred technologies prior to dissemination, to enhance high adoption rates. Future research should identify why only 38% of available innovations were adopted along the rice value chain in this Cameroonian case study, and which factors influenced the choices of different actors. A retrospect on effects other than income can provide stronger relevance for policies promoting adoption of innovations among rice value chain actors in the study site
Impact of effective management of natural disaster for Africa’s development
Full text linkAbstract: The escalation of natural disasters in the last two decades or so and their devastating effects on developing countries in general and Africa in particular, has been frequently mentioned in the topical literature. Devastating impacts in African and other developing countries have often been attributed to failure of formal (state and market) institutions for risk management, frequent in these countries. While the predominance of informal response mechanisms has been acknowledged in these countries, they are presumed to disintegrate in the face of covariate shocks. This paper argues that an overly ambitious emphasis on states and markets and a negligence of the role of informal, socially embedded institutions in the effective management of natural disasters is grossly responsible for the negative effects of natural disasters and their perverse implications on Africa’s development. A multi-sector framework that can be used for modeling natural disaster management in Africa which has the potential of reducing the negative consequences of disasters is suggested. This is based on the premise that natural shocks must be perceived as social phenomena that are best managed with the participation of those involved. Empirical evidence is included, and the implications of a multi-stakeholder approach to managing disasters to enhance development in Africa are discussed
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