Fostering Sustainable Development in my Community through Agro-forestry
(Original)

Robin Achah Arifique
(Age 24, Cameroon <Living in USA>)
Environment and Rural development foundation-ERuDeF (Non-profit Organization)

What can be more sustainable than agroforestry as more mouths than ever need to be fed? I am a botanist in the Lebialem Highlands Forest of South West Cameroon. Everyday in the field I see a lot of farm encroachment by the local community [by the fringe communities] into [in] the forest. So many farms dotted in the forest [, thus pointing to biodiversity loss] contributing to biodiversity loss.

One day I asked a local community member,” Why are there so many farms in the forest? Why do you people have to come this far to farm, cutting down trees and burning the land?” his response was “We have been farming on the same pieces of land over and over and crop production has drastically dropped. We need more farmland so that we can increase our produce and get money to go to hospital and send our children to school.” He has a good reason but this is not the ultimate solution to their problem. This is not sustainable in the long term. Cutting down these trees promotes soil erosion and deforestation exposing the earth/land to the sun thus contributing to global warming. As generations come and get into this same practice, the forest would eventually disappear and then where will the people go to farm and get good crop yields?

I see that these local community members are caught in a viscous circle. They don't see any other way than farming to support their livelihood given the enclaved nature of the area. This forest also has so many other rich natural resources that could bring a lot of benefits to the community to foster sustainable development.

It takes a lot of time, efforts and resources to change the perception of people given the fact that they didn’t get the chance to go to school. They depend mostly on what their forefathers told them.

Trying to create a positive change in the environment which will foster sustainable development is a big issue here. My idea therefore is to introduce the use of multi-purpose agro-forestry tree species. These tree species have many uses other than soil fertility and are fast growing. This will give quick results.

Early this year, I introduced agro-forestry tree species to this Community, Lebialem Highlands Forest area as a means to help improve the fertility of their soil and increase crop productivity. This will bring back the farms to the communities and leave the forest for its natural inhabitants (plants and animals). For this reason, I began training a number of local farmers in Lebialem Highlands Forest area how to use multipurpose agro-forestry tree species to improve soil fertility and increase crop yields. It is very challenging trying to get them do this but a few have the interest and are willing to give a try.

In no distant time, when these trees start flowering, they will produce nectar which will attract insects for pollination and bees for apiculture (honey production). Farmers can get branches for fuel food and leaves as fodder to feed animals. The healthy forest that will be created will also control erosion as roots of trees help to keep the soil compact. This will help prevent the frequent landslides that occur in this area every year during the rainy season leading to loss of lives and property. There is no doubt that the forest will also protect and sustain critical watersheds needed to supply drinking water for the population, especially during dry months.

In a few years time, I envisage that my agro-forestry initiative will significantly help reduce forest encroachment, increase the biological diversity of the area, and consequently become an irresistible web to many ecotourists and researchers. There is the need for follow ups to sustain the agroforestry initiative. At the end of this year, I will organize a couple of refresher workshops and monitor the project closely until the needed change is achieved