SANGWA-UPKWA WOMEN GARDENERS ASSOCIATION (SUWGA)

DECEMBER 2016

BACKGROUND

The Sangwa-Upkwa Women Gardeners Association was founded in February 2016. The

group is composed of women from the Aku, Aghem and Esu communities who live within

Sangwa-Upkwa villages of the Wum, Sub-division, Menchum Division, North West

Cameroon. It started with 100 women divided into five groups of 20 women each, based on

their housing arrangements. The groups had separate plots of land which were supervised

by a general farm-master living in Upkwa. This organization was realized with support from

Mr. Jonathan Keenan, a Peace Corps Volunteer and Mr. Buba Sulle Dicko, executive

president of Aku Cultural and Development Association (ACUDA). The group has today

grown to 126 members with a sixth group created in Echuan. This group was created after

the following pertinent observations;

1. Families in Sangwa-Upkwa lack access to foods to create a basic balance diet. It was

observed that the community principally feeds on only two main food stuffs, corn and

rice. Added to this base are small amounts of other vegetables which must be bought

from Wum town as more local farmers focus growing maize. The opportunity cost of

traveling to and from Wum town for 1.000 CFA is often not justified by the families as

they look to purchase small amounts of vegetables which are difficult to preserve for

long periods of time. This trend was noticed to have far reaching negative impacts on

the socio-economic life and health of the community. To change this, this project was

born to allow women grow local dietary resources from their immediate environments

and learn how to use them to supplement household diets and income.

2. These communities rely on their cultural and religious traditions, which often hold

females requiring permission of males to work or travel, creating difficulties for women

in these communities to gain access to income or opportunities. Developing a project

near to their communities and gaining the permission of male leaders, the women and

girls have the chance to begin their own income generating activities, granting them

access to their own funds and contributing to the household through food and

monetary means.

3. As the communities in which these family groups are close knit and are a significant

distance away from each other, and further from Wum town, such a program allows

them to interact more frequently. This allows the spread of ideas, stories, and

information when they come together for meetings and end of season celebrations.

With some of the groups being displaced peoples from the Nyos disaster of 1986,

these opportunities to interact and work together deconstructs some of the divides

between those native to the land and those who have been resettled there.

Executive members:

S/N NAME FUNCTION ADDRESS OCCUPATION ID NO

1 HADIJA ADAMU PRESIDENT SANGWA

HOUSEWIFE

2 GEH MARY V.P UPKWA FARMER

3 ASMAU USMANU SECRETARY SANGWA HOSEWIFE

4 TUMBI UMARU TREASURER UPKWA

5 SULE DIKO MOHAMADU

FIN. SEC SANGWA FARMER

6 USMANU MUSA FARM COORDINATOR

UPKWA TEL: 666403786

FARMER II09937057

SUMMARY OF LAST YEAR’S ACTIVITIES 2016 was the first year of the group’s existence and it was a very successful year. The

women worked together and remained intact and implemented a seven months “food and

Nutrition Projects (FNP)” . The FNP was structured in two cycles as follows;

Cycle One: February - July

Phase One

Beginning on February 7, 2016 this phase organized the women into five groups of 20

members. Each group, two in Sangwa and three in Upkwa, chose and developed individual

fields near their community with a local water source. Between February and June, the

women were trained on vegetable gardening by Mr. Keenan, Mr. Asmau Usmanu, and

representatives of the Divisional Delegation of Agriculture. They learned how to create

nurseries for the seeds, then caring from the seedlings once they sprouted before

transplanting and growing the crops in their various fields. During this phase, the groups

were offered to choose four of the following to grow: cabbage, carrots, huckleberry, potatoes,

soya beans and tomatoes. The weekly or biweekly training modules were undertaken at

Government Primary School Upkwa.

Phase Two

With the commitment to the continuation of the work they did, the groups decided to come

together as one to continue their work and support each other in times of struggle. Three

representatives of each met with Mr. Keenan and the representative of the Sub-Divisional

Delegation of Agriculture to create a working agreement of association. This document was

then brought to the general assembly to discuss and vote upon on Sunday, May 22nd 2016.

It was passed unanimously.

Phase Three

In the second phase, the women were trained on cooking and nutrition by an expert from

Wum. They were trained on how to transform soya beans into milk and ‘toufou’. Five women

from all the sub groups were invited to the training and it took place in GSS Upkwa very

successfully. The training was facilitated by Mr. Shawn Aldermen and Mme. Benedict

Phase Four

This phase trained the women on marketing of surplus crops from their gardens. They were

trained on how to source markets for their produce with the Wum ‘Buyam Sellam’, how to

keep track of their sales and how to distribute profits evenly to all members. After this

training, the women started a monthly fundraising to support themselves by contributing the

sum of 200 Frs. each. This money has accumulated to more than 100.000 CFA.

DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED AND SOLUTIONS

Difficulty Solution Undertaken or Future Solutions

1 Lack of adequate follow up as there was only one farm master who had difficulties accessing all the farms due to distance

Train members of the groups in techniques and the importance of these techniques. Create means of communication between the groups and the farm master.

2 Lack of farming materials: fertilizers, watering cans, fencing materials and insecticides Lack of water pumps to irrigate crops during the dry season

With current profits, will purchase materials to improve farming abilities in the future.

3 Lack of means of transportation for ready crops to the market

Create a contract with one or two trustworthy bikeriders who travel to town frequently.

4 Insufficient amount of land to carry out gardening for the following groups:

Increase the amount of land. Will request to expand the size of the field.

5 Lack of machines for transformation of produce into variety of goods

With current profits, purchase a limited amount in the community which can be used for the groups at a discounted rate. Those who are not part of the organization, will need to pay an extra charge for service.

MOST PRESSING NEEDS S/N NEED QTY JUSTIFICATION

1* Water pumps 03 To irrigate crops during the dry season as many of

the farms are found on high lands with no water.

2* Grinding Mill 02 Upkwa, Sangwa and Echuan are all enclave areas.

Women trek for long distances to grind the corn and

other stuff in Wum. Having two mills will facilitate the

task for them and even raise more income for them.

3* Soya Bean

Mills

06 Women have been trained on transforming soya

beans into milk and ‘tofu’ but they lack the machine

to grind the soy beans. If they have these machines,

they will produce more and improve on their diets.

4 Barbed wires 60 To protect their gardens from cattle damages since

all of them cultivate in cattle areas.

5 Insecticides ------ To protect crops from insect invasion

NB: Stared needs (1, 2, &3) are the most pressing that the women request