AJESH successfully carried out the BIOPAMA project in Nkam and Sanaga-Maritime Divisions in the Littoral region of Cameroon.The implementation of this project was carried out from June to September 2023. AJESH is an organization that is involved in biodiversity conservation, livelihood conditions improvement and land tenure saucerization in Yabassi, Yingui and Ngambe.
The main activities carried out by AJESH are: Participatory mapping, Participatory landuse planning, Establishment of cassava demonstration farms and training of community members, Establishment of plant nurseries.
- Participatory mapping: Participatory maps were produced in 12 communities to help document their livelihood activities, land tenure which helped in conserving biodiversity. 72 community members were trained on the use of GPS for participatory mapping data collection and on the entire mapping process.
Figure 1: Participatory Mapping process in Yingui II Community
Participatory maps were produced and handed to communities for them to use as advocacy, lobbying and development tools. 12 Participatory land use maps where produced, 12 cultural maps and 12 primates maps.
Figure 2: Participatory map of land uses and land tenure of Ndokanyack in Yingui Subdivision.
- Participatory land use planning: For a sustainable management of lands and resources, AJESH supported 10 communities to obtain land use planning maps. 100 community land use planners where trained and 10 participatory land use planning maps were produced. The land use planning map helped communities to secure their lands and resources which led to the sustainable management of their resources.
- During the landuse planning process in these 10 communities, AJESH supported community land use planners to identify present and future community projects. The most identified were: agricultural projects (trainings, livestock, community farms, nursery, agroforestry etc). Infrastructural projects (habitation, boreholes, schools, markets, community halls, football stadiums etc) and creation of community forest (for sustainable management of natural ressources) were also identified.
Figure 3: Participatory land use planning process in Ndogbanguengue, Yabassi subdivision
Figure 4: Participatory land use map of Ndem 1, Yingui subdivision
A community forest was proposed in Ndem 1 community to facilitate the sustainable management of natural resources and improve livelihood conditions.
- Training of community members on Cassava farming: More than 30 communities were trained by AJESH to sustain the farming of cassava. Precisely, AJESH trained and empowered 10 community members per community, making it a total of 300 community members from Ndokmem nord (Yigui), Mosse (Yingui), Ndogbanguengue (Yabassi), and Ndokbakand (Yabassi). The training permitted women, youth and the elderly to acquire new skills on cassava farming.
Figure 5: Training of Ndokmem nord community members on Sustainable cassava farming
- Establishement of cassava demonstration farms: AJESH supported 04 communities in the establishement of cassava demonstration farms. The beneficiary communities were Ndokmem nord (Yigui), Mosse (Yingui), Ndogbanguengue (Yabassi) and Ndokbakand (Yabassi). The demonstration farms will help to improve livelihood conditions of community members.
Figure 6: Establishment of cassava demonstration farm in Mosse, Yingui subdivision.
- Setting of nurserys: Uniquely, AJESH has established 04 nurserys of more than 12500 seedlings of varied native species (Garcinia cola, Afrostyrax lpidophyllus, Acacia…) within Ndokmem nord (Yigui), Mosse (Yingui), Ndogbanguengue (Yabassi) and Ndokbakand (Yabassi). This ecological restoration has a growing role in policy aimed at reversing the widespread effects of environmental degradation, the recovery of ecosystem structures and functions, and the associated provision of goods and services.
Figure 7: Nursery in Ndogbanguengue, Yabassi subdivision
