Bafoussam-Cameroon-
For the past 7-8 years, farmers in Cameroon have been having hard times in
knowing when the rains will begin or stop. As a result, they have to plant
their farms several times from February up till April or May when the rains
begin.
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| Mr. Abiadng takes care of his farms every day from Monday to Saturday |
Traditionally, 45
years old Abiadng Solomon, farmer in Bafoussam (cultivating market garden
crops, cereals and tubers), wives and 13 children used to plant maize after the
early rains of February. This year like in the preceding ones “women planted
corn three times before seeing it appear.” Said Mr. Abiadng.
From February to
May, Mr. Abiadng has counted six times that the rains have touched his 1.5
hectare farm. Instead of making him some good, “the six rains that has fallen
brings flood to my farms. It fell heavily and damaged all my cabbages and
tomatoes. I did not harvest anything.” He complained.
This is not the
first time he has seen his farm crops perish because of the changing climate.
He pointed in 2011, his inputs were more than 300 000FCFA (457.35 EU) on
onions, but output was zero because the rains went earlier than expected (in
September-October).
Farmers like Mr.
Abiadng and peasants in Cameroon continue to feel the impact of climate change.
The rains are irregular and unpredictable and when it rains, floods come and
damage their farms and crops.
Although reports
from the World Bank say climate change risks are higher in poor countries, while
other reports from the University
of Notre Dame say Cameroon and other African nations are the least
ready to fight climate change.
Cameroon is conscious
of the dangers. Besides agriculture is the backbone of her economy and the
country needs to fortify her climate change efforts in order to preserve the
sector, which employs 60% of the population and provide 45% of the GDP (2010 national
statistics).
Through the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the government of Cameroon
actively sensitizes farmers in specialized schemes like the maize, cocoa and
coffee programmes , where farmers are given incentives and up to date
information about climate change. The government also provides information to farmers
via the Institute of
Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD) and the
National Institute of Statistics.
To make sure climate
and weather predictions are available for useful decision making, Cameroon has
15 meteorological
surveillance centres. “We offer current meteorological information. We can offer information about the climatic
conditions for 1 year, 6 months or the present situation.” Said Mr. Mukete
Mboye Simon, Commander of the Bafoussam Airlift (one of the surveillance
centres).
Persuaded that improved
weather prediction is strategic to agricultural and economic stability,
Cameroon’s Minister of Transport, Robert Nkili joined Ministers in charge of
Meteorology in the Central African Sub-region in Yaoundé on April 24, 2015, to
announce the creation of a Central African Meteorological Hub.
Scientists in
Cameroon are also involved in the fight, both on the field and at the media. In
2013, scientists at the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in
collaboration with Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV) set up a radio
programme on the CRTV called “Au rythme des saisons”, or “Following Changing seasons”.
The monthly
broadcast was out to “help both policymakers and local communities with
information to help implement policies and projects for adaptation to climate
change and reduction of carbon emissions in the forests” noted CIFOR. Their recent report shows that they
succeeded “an average increase of 22.3% on test scores in climate change and
forest topics for an individual who listens once” to their programmes on radio.
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