I Bellemarre De Vigny TATCHIM KAMTO, 27. I live in Yagoua in the region of the far north Cameroon. I understand that agriculture is crucial to the development of our country and that many young people could benefit from throwing it. Indeed, our food production are insufficient to cover the needs of our people and the majority of essential commodities come to us from foreign countries; hence the great opportunity to be seized by our youth for our economic development and poverty reduction.
HOW TO ACT?
The solution lies in setting foot in rural areas multiple community projects promoting inclusive participation of all members and specially oriented towards the vulnerable.
As an example we took the initiative to set foot in a joint cooperative YAGOUA the various ethnic groups (Massa Toupouri, Peul, Muzgum) to fight with one arm for improving the living conditions of the population of the area. Through our activities, the links between the various ethnic groups will be strengthened and they will now work together to pursue their common interests. In addition, the targeted community, mainly made up of young people and women engaged in groundnut cultivation, will receive agricultural inputs and equipment to enable them to produce more than before, while preserving our environment.
OUTCOME
Thanks to the technical support of the agricultural delegation, performance and the amount of peanuts produced will be increased. This will improve food security and greater revenue of several hundred people (direct and indirect beneficiaries). The collaboration of all ethnic groups will act as leverage to substantially reduce the rate of poverty in the area. Part of the funds from the sale of production will be kept to renew the investment the following seasons and increase the number of farmers who will benefit.
REALIS ATIONS CURRENT
We have already legalized the cooperative under the symbol FOOD FOR ALL with the main objective of the mission support people without access to economic opportunities and improve their living standards through the development of profitable and sustainable agriculture. A community fund was set up and we are seeing the beginnings of a fruitful collaboration between the various ethnic groups involved. Through our collaboration with the delegation of small and medium enterprises, partial subsidy of $ 5000 was granted us. It is insufficient for the project good start but if we manage to become one of the “YAP Champions”, then we can truly put feet on this project whose total amount is $ 10,000.
This funding will allow us to develop the tool and equipment ($ 3,200), seeds ($ 2600), fertilizers ($ 2400) to cover miscellaneous operating expenses ($ 1,200) and to pay for transportation and sales taxes ($ 600).
The schedule of activities has been prepared as follows:
April 2016 Training in better production techniques by the Agriculture Delegation
May 2016 Purchase of equipment and inputs and tillage plots
June-August 2016 sowing, fertilizing and maintenance of plots
September 2016 to January 2017 Harvest and sale of production
THE PATH TO SUCCESS …
The main factors necessary for the success of this project financing, the support of the Delegation of Agriculture and collaboration of various partners and beneficiaries involved. We already had the support agreement by the Agriculture Delegation. The partial grant received we will be paid in April 2016. On the other hand we communicate regularly with the community of beneficiaries and partners. We remain confident that things will go better in the futures days and that the project will be a great success. The following tangible results will allow us to assess the success of our operation:
- Doubling revenues of more than 250 members of the beneficiary community
- additional production of 35 tons of shelled peanuts
- Reduction of a quarter of the retail price of a cup of peanuts on neighboring markets
- small commercial multiplication and other income generating activities around the site
It’s beautiful is not it? We do everything on our level to get there but we need you to give us a helping hand. You only need to click and I like to add your comment too. THANK YOU so much for everything.
Blogpost and picture Submitted by Bellemarre De Vigny TATCHIM KAMTO (Cameroon) – vignykamto [at] yahoo.fr
The content, structure and grammar is at the discretion of the author only.
This post is published as proposal # 100 of “YAP” – our “Agripreneur Youth Project” .
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Reblogged this on FOOD FOR ALL and commented:
Quand la culture des arachides soutiens les jeunes
Good Cameroonian. I do believe too that our country need to invest a lot on agriculture in order to develop. Our president said in his last speech that ou Youth should engage in agriculture and new technologies. These two sectors are essential for our development. May GOD bless you my friend. Good luck!
Thanks brother. It’s very encouraging!
you got a grant from the government! That’s great. I didn’t know our government were still giving grants. That’s good news!
Hi Patricia. There are always opportunities out there. Just open your eyes, your mind and you will see many funding opportunities. Thank you for your comment
that’s really beautigul. I didn’t know that you were serious when you once told me that you would put in place social projects in the far north region. I am really proud of you. I think I should do the same for people in my village. Please tell me your secret.
there is no secret. Go in your village and spend some time to ask people for their agricultural problems. When you find what they badly need, you make a project and work very hard to realise it. It is just as simple
When you talk about it, all seems easy. What is the reality? Present me an overview of what I will face while working on this project?
I didn’t say it would be easy. You will have to work hard, to spend some months asking questions and learning all aspects of that business. You will face many adversities and sometimes be frustrated. However, if you are really committed to achieving it, you will succeed. You will need passion, optimism and determination.
It takes courage to take the risk of committing to a project without being absolutely sure of the final outcome. I will think about it.
Go on! If you believe in yourself, you can do it. The secret is to begin and to persevere.
Thank you!
Hello! I am Cole. I live in YAGOUA too. I really need a job to make ends meet. How can I do to take part in your project. Thank you
The project hasn’t started yet, but you can register in our group now! on the 10th of March, we will have a meeting near DANAY FM broadcasting house. Just come and you will register and know more about the project
what time will the meeting begin?
It will begin at 10 am
It is a big challenge to attract young people on agriculture and to fund them, but if we succeed, development will follow very fast
The main problem is not to attract young people on agriculture but to fund them and help them sell their production so as to make a good living with their revenues
Africa has so much potential that any person who gets funded will succeed if his will to succeed is big enough so as to enable him to overcome difficulties. The biggest challenge is to start a project and be determined to achieve it.
A project for a unique ethnical group is good; but a project which gather all together different ethnical groups is better. It strenghtens relationships and leverages the develpment of the community. I really appreciate your project!
Thank you very much!
A project which unites people for the common good of the community is more likely to succeed than another project.
Why did you choose to support these farmers on peanut production? Is it the only crop that people cultivate there?
People here are used to growing peanuts. furthermore, the climate is very favorable to its production. Proper production of penuts is also more profitable than other crops.
It is interesting. I know that peanuts are very demanded by people in our towns for their cooking. If you produced a lot of peanuts, I am sure that all your community would froget poverty.
It’s our ambition. We want to develop the production farmers. We know that if we sustainably increase their food production, poverty will reduce.
Your project sounds good. How long have you been working for its realisation?
We got the idea in September 2015. We have been working hard so far to make sure that we successfully realise it this year.
How many people are currently working on the project as team members?
our team team consist of three people. Through this project, we want to impulse the development of our community. We are committed to making a major and sustainable impact on people’s incomes.
Have you ever worked on a social project in the past?
Yes! We worked on a project that led to the construction of a community warehouse for food storage.
Many people might want to benefit from your project ; I suggest you particularly target the most vulnerable people.
It is exactly what we will do. We shall select the beneficiaries between those who badly need this support. We will choose the ones that will make the best of this opportunity.
Does your project come from you or from people who will be impacted ?
This project is the result of combined ideas of all community members. We gather together every month to tackle community problems and think about ways to solve them.
It means that your project really addresses the difficulties faced by farmers. I wish your project the best for the wellbeing of your community.
Thanks for all the encouragement
I think the best component of your project is its sustainability. If farmers have the opportunity every year to get supported, food production will increase and poverty will reduce.
We will work to the best of our abilities to make sure that our project sustain itself, but also get bigger every season. We aim at increasing the number of beneficiaries every year.
Agriculture can destroy the land if its environmental impacts are not managed. How will you make sure that your project help people while preserving our environment?
to reduce our environmental impact, we shall use only natural fertilizers. On the other hand, we will use a rotating farming to preserve the land
On your project expenses, there are no payroll charges. Does it mean that nobody will get a salary?
Farmers will not get paid a salary because they will receive their incomes at the end of the season after food production will have been sold. Our team will not also get paid a salary because we consist of volunteers who are willing to work for the wellbeing of the community
How will you determine the income to give to each beneficiary?
After putting away $10 000 to renew the project the second year, the rest will be shared to all beneficiaries. As we are working to promote a fair and equitable development, they will receive the same amount of money. We will divide the remaining amount by the number of beneficiaries.
Won’t it be unfair to give all people the same income if some beneficiaries produced more food than others?
No, because none of them will work independantly from others. They will work together in the same community farm specially created for our project. They will work hard together and will Strengthen their relationships. It will therefore not be possible to give more money to some of them without creating any conflicts.
It is true you are right!
Agriculture is a tiring and very demanding work. Without some equipment, you will barely produce enough food to feed your family and have a good income. How will you do to increase small farmers’ production capacities?
Small farmers will use animal drawn plows and some community equipment like crop sprayers and peanut sheller to ease the heavy work
are animal drawn plows and other equipment already available?
Yes animal drawn plows and some equipment are already available. But we hope to purchase other ones in the future.
Agriculture is a gold mine for all of us. People can live without travelling or buying appliances, but they can’t live without eating. We are proud to see that young people are engaging more and more in agriculture.
Young people in Africa used to think that agriculture was for those who had nothing else to do or for unqualified people. But things are changing now. Nowadays, people look at agriculture with new eyes. It is really a gold mine which has the potential to lift our economies.
How many production seasons do you have in YAGOUA? If there are two, will it be possible for people to benefit from your project support during these two seasons?
There are two seasons. During the first season, people cultivate peanuts and on the second one they cultivate Carrot, salad, watermelon. On each of these seasons, we shall work with farmers to help them increase their yields.
Is the production of carrot, salad and watermelon as profitable as the production of peanuts?
Yes their production is very profitable. But we have to contact buyers before harvesting them or else they might rot.
Good project. I think this is the type of project that we should support. I have Just a question. I know that there are so many people in need of help that your project can’t help them all. Will you support the same beneficiaries every year?
It is true, there are many people who need help. We decided to target the most vulnerable people for he first year. The other years, we will support different farmers so as to enable all members of the community to benefit of this opportunity.
Have you listed the beneficiaries of this year?
We have already registered more than 100 people. We are going on registering people that match our target.
I think it will be better to distribute inputs to these farmers and to just tell them the amount of money they should pay at the end of the season.
If we did this, many farmers wouldn’t give that money and the project would fail after a few years. We have to collect farmers’ production and sell it in collaboration with the community board to make sure that we get and save the money necessary to renew the project during the next season.
Another important element of our project is its ability to multiply the combined efforts of small farmers. If people work separately, we will not have the same results.
Has any such project been realised in your community?
The delegation of agriculture succesfully launched such projects in other villages of the far north region. They are very experienced. In our target community, many projects were implemented in the past, but they were different from this one. The idea of gathering people and of targeting the most vulnerable is a new concept here.
Whar level of income increase can fbeneficiaries expect to have?
Thanks to the technical support of the delegation of agriculture, the yield per hectare will increase. Moreover, as we will provide farmers with seeds and natural fertilizers, they will cultivate bigger farms. All this will result in the multiplication of the quantity of food produced. After putting away the money that will be used to renew the project during the next season; each beneficiary will receive at least the double of what he would have earned if he hadn’t taken part in the project.
What impact will the delegation of agriculture have on your project?
Its staff will train all beneficiaries on better agricultural practives. They will follow us during all production steps. Thanks to their technical support, we hope to double the yield per hectare.
If food staples like sugar or rice are still imported, it means our agricultural strategy is not working. We could have done better with means we had in the past. We have to change our behaviours, to change our way of thinking and our countries will develop.
That is exactly what we are doing. We are trying to implement projects in a different way. We are young and willing to change our beahviours and attitudes with a view to significantly improve our standard of living.
Food security is a major concern in far north Cameroon. Reduction in food prices and income increases remain the two main factors to address in resolving this problem. As your project helps point the way toward solutions, I hope your proposal will be successful.
We will make all possible efforts to improve food security of vulnerable people. That’s what one of our biggest challenge.
How did you the final results of your project (doubling of income, reduction in price, ….etc.)?
You said funding was one of the main success factors of your project. How would you do to get the missing funding if your proposal were not successful?
This opportunity is a windfall for us. we have been loking for funding since we began working on the project on september 2015. Up to now, we only have gotten half the amount needed. However we have to start on May 2016. We are not thinking of failing because we have no choice but to succeed. Many people are expecting so much from this project and we can’t disappoint them.
You are so committed to this project that I sinserely hope that your proposal will be successful. Good luck!
If you can sustainably increase the food production of small farmers, poverty will reduce. Our project shouldn’t help people for one day or one year; but should empower them so that they can make it on their own in the future.
We recognize that we have to make a lot of efforts to ensure the sustainability of our project. That’s why we decided to control the project ressources. Every year, We will save the money that will be used to renew the project on the next season. We shall also follow each of the beneficiaries to help them really be autonomous after one year.
I just registered on this project but I can say that it will be a marvellous journey for all beneficiaries. During the last meeting on the 10th of March, I noticed the enthusiasm of farmers towards this project. We look to the future with hope.
10th of March Meeting Report
– Young farmers and other members of our community are proud of what we have been able to achieve so far;
– New people registered on our project. We currently have 152 registered people who are looking forward to the beginning of the project;
– All members of our community thank very much the GCARD3 Support Team for giving us the opportunity to apply to this year event. We are also grateful to its partners and sponsors. May you have more resources to continue investing on agriculture and communities;
– We are grateful to all people who viewed and commented our proposal. Thank you and Thank you again.
Good work Vigny. I congratulate you!
Thank you, but our road is still very long. We haven’t won yet. It is just the beginning.