Agri-Aqua inclusive venture

Animal-husbandry, Aqua-culture, Heli-culture, Fruits and Vegetables

We are grateful for the opportunity to have met and worked with 41 local communities around Mount Cameroon National Park (MCNP) during our research field survey from October to December 2013 (Fig. 1). Our project was focused on assessing the level of community involvement in the MCNP REDD+ conservation projects. Results showed that food insecurity, malnutrition, land grabbing and poverty were some of the factors preventing full community engagement in MCNP interventions. Providing alternative livelihoods (animal husbandry, aqua culture, heliculture ...) to generate new income streams, practicing mixed-crop farming and interspacing fruit trees in crop farms were highly recommended to enhance food yield. Our research will be useless if we cannot lead the changes recommended in our own publications. The Forgotten Green Heroes (TFGH) inclusive venture was established in 2014 to address these issues of food insecurity, poverty, malnutrition and enhance local adaptive capacity to climate change. We started in a very small scale in 2014, however, we are ready to scale up in 2018. Stay tuned!

Some pictures from research field survey (Nvenakeng Suzanne Awung, 2013)

Webinar: Engaging African youth in agribusiness in a changing climate, 30th Aug 2017, 14:00

Webinar: Engaging African youth in agribusiness in a changing climate: Wed, Aug 30 2017 14:00
This year’s World Youth Skills Day (July 15) focuses on raising awareness about the importance of youth developing skills in all economic sectors. However, current strategies are not addressing the needs of the youth. According to the United Nations, education and training programs that are geared towards youth success in a labour market are critical in the current climate. The 2017 theme for the International Youth Day “Youth Building Peace” aims to celebrate contributions of youth to conflict prevention and transformation as well as inclusion, social justice, and sustainable peace. Climate change is contributing to conflicts for scarce resources (former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the war in Darfur as the world’s first climate change conflict). In Africa, where families are dependent on agriculture, the changing climate will cause economic uncertainties and the most affected will be women and the youth.

Register now for the webinar on engaging african youth in agribusinesses in a changing climate

The webinar will be focused on the following questions:

• What examples of innovative youth-led agribusinesses exist in Africa and what challenges do they face in a changing climate?
• How can agribusiness drive innovation in CSA to combat climate change and attract the youth?
• What policies and programmes should governments put in place to facilitate the involvement of youth in agribusiness in a changing climate?
• What approaches and opportunities exist for scaling up the adoption of innovative youth climate-smart agri-businesses opportunities across Africa?

A bunch of plantains ready for harvesting

 

Agribusiness is today’s most feasible option

If you train a woman, you have train a generation

In Sub-Sahara Africa, women’s land-rights are limited by some traditional norms. Only about 1% of women actually own land and some 10% qualify for agricultural loan. Despite these limitations, 80% of them are agricultural workers cultivating 90% of food consumed locally and producing 80% of developing world’s food.

The African woman is the greatest climate change burden bearer walking for miles across harsh terrain to fetch water, fuel-wood, cultivating and harvesting crops and this has exposed them to threat of violence and rape as they need to fetch water in faraway distances. Drought and landslide can also separate families exposing women to human trafficking, starvation and loss of life in a blink of an eye.

Train a woman and you would have train and maintain a household, which is the fundamental unit of any community. There is need to provide enough support and training on sustainable agriculture, agro-forestry and other income generating activities like animal husbandry, aqua-culture and small businesses to alleviate poverty, improve livelihood and helps mitigate and adapt to climate change. Empowering women to embark on sustainable agricultural and socio-economic activities enable them to improve their lifestyles and fully participate in community development. Women have proven to be the backbone of any economy.

We would sensitise the men and broaden their views to understand the essence of including a woman’s place at discussion table. Women will be given the right tools and training to build assets and income so that they too will realise their rights, access basic social services, be self-reliance and fully participate in sustainable community development. Support us raise awareness and change the life of marginalized women for improved livelihood and well-being of their families and communities.

"Let's lead the change before climate change changes us"

Dr. Nvenakeng Suzanne Awung