African voices for climate change and conservation

Aaron Kaah Yancho on assignment to Mejang 

It is sun set and the farm family of Margareta Nazah at the mejang Community at the depth of the Boyo division in the NW region of Cameroon huddles around their three stone fire side to cook a meal. The smoke oozing from this kitchen which also serves as a sleeping room for this family is intoxicating. Mboine Irvine, a form 4 student and the last daughter of this family decries this smoke as detrimental not only to her eyes but night time studies. “Smoke bleaches my eyes with pain every time I want to read or cook”. She says. Almost every member of this small farming community has a worry with smoke and the stress the over exploitation of forest resources has caused on their land.

Over the years illiteracy and ignorance on natural resource management had dealt a blow on this community. The Mejang community had gone parched due to the rampant wild fire burning for cultivation or livestock rearing. This not only left the water ponds and sources dry but seasonal erosions became a hall mark. Talking with a deep sense of agony Isuh Isaiah a Mejang community youth narrates the scarcity of water as frightening. “Can you imagine we drink muddy water from the same sources with animals, all our water sources went dry as the burning intensified” Isaiah cried adding that even the temperature of his village was rising beyond their understanding. Across the slopes bush fires had mowed down trees and vegetation leaving the ecosystem bare. Chaimba Joshua- a civil society expert who works for the Rural Development Center in Belo opines that, while the residents of these remote village where living on next to nothing as a result of this strain on their land, the urgent need for survival and the rapid population growth was making a bad situation precarious. “You see as the resources are getting scarce or diminished more people rather need it and this calls for urgent action” he reckoned stressing that the climate changes were making this vicious cycle worse. The free range grazing of animals and the demand for fire wood in this village either for cooking or lighting supported Joshua’s claims on a daily basis.

In 2014 when the Horb’am Necker council in Germany through its ministry for international cooperation and development launched an offer to help provide money help or carbon credit for some 50 communities in the developing world for climate change mitigation and adaptation, The Belo council saw this green light as a stitch in time to assist the needy people of the Mejang community to regain control over their natural resources. “Over project to introduce improved firesides and to institute a community forest in this community was approved” recalled Tufoin Kenneth the Belo council projects management officer. This project worth 32million has already accomplished the planning of a 5heatare community forest zone in mejang. “These environmental friendly trees are mahogany and iroko and we hope to expand more planting in future” Kenneth adds. Some Mejang community youths have sort employment in this project and are helping to development this forest plantation. Nothing else, Isuh Isaiah who is also working on this project will start his own forest farm in the near future to benefit a Belo council small money fund.

Recently the Belo council signed a working agreement with a Bamenda base energy solution Organization Centre for Appropriate Technology (CAT) to design some 80 improved fire sides that will help these community households drop their dependence on fire wood. According to Njini Victor director of CAT, these locally made improved fire sides will train and mentor some 10 community members to carry on this technology once the project is over. “These smokeless firesides that are also cheap, affordable and low cost are made of water mud and straw and can last for 5 years” Victor remarked.

When the CAT technical team mounted the first fire sides of this pilot project at the Mejang Fons palace recently, a fons wife Kuwong Robina could hide her smiles. “I am very proud to see this new kind of new fire side in my kitchen” Robina remarked. Impressed with what he saw HRH the fon of Mejang Ahidjo Mboine Charles praised the Belo council and its partners to heaven for bringing such lofty easy going technology to his community. “May God bless the Belo council for life, for helping my people to improve on their living conditions” he added. While cooking is fast becoming an enjoyable dream for every household in this community, kids and students are also poised to enjoy night time studies and leisure. The Mejang village is made of some 2000 subsistent farmers who dig their land for cassava, plantains and cocoa.