Future in our hands
education and development fund

The FIOH Education and Development Fund
48 Churchward Avenue
Swindon
Wiltshire SN2 1NH
UK
Tel/Fax 01793 532353
Registered Charity Number 1047953

CAMEROON PROJECTS

EUCALYPTUS REPLACEMENT PROJECT

INTRODUCTION
The problem caused to women by the spread of eucalyptus trees was brought to the attention of the non-government organisation, Strategic Humanitarian Services (SHUMAS) by the Bongkeh Women's Farming Group led by Theresia Wirkom, in 1996 after this group had unsuccessfully urged their husbands to cut the trees down. These men and most other tree owners, could not in fact afford to hire chainsaw contractors.
The project was submitted to the FIOH Fund in 1997 and in April 1999, the FIOH Fund's chairman, Mike Thomas, visited the area to assess the extent of support for the project. He also provided a grant of £500 from the UK charity Plant a Tree in Africa (PATIA) to enable eucalyptus trees in one catchment to be felled and a nursery for 80,000 seedlings (10 species) of indigenous African trees to be established. This work was done over a period of four days during his visit. SHUMAS also provided £500 from their own reserves.
Subsequently a further grant of £1,400 was provided by PATIA for another pilot project.
Experience gained from these two projects, plus the reports of three overseas volunteers, were used in support of the project application submitted to the Community Fund (subsequently named the Big Lottery Fund) in January 2000. The application was approved in August 2000 and the project was inaugurated in November 2000.

According to a report by the Kumbo Water Authority, the population of the Bui division (which includes Kumbo) in 1995 was approx 283,000 and the growth rate was 3.3% . The urban population is 18% of the total.
The Yeh catchment area (mainly in the ownership of the Nkum Rural Council ) covers 3008 hectares and is fed by the Royeh and Kinsaan rivers. Supplies to the Water Authority's catchment have reduced in recent years and this has been attributed to the indiscriminate spread and growing of eucalyptus trees.

PROGRESS
In addition to the eucalyptus trees felled in the pilot projects at Kongir and Saanyar (about 50,000), a further 124,000 were felled by the end of March 2001.
About 1.2 mil seeds were planted in the nurseries at Mah and Kongir (about 27 species) and most of these had germinated by the end of March 2001.
Farming areas at Kitiwum and Mah were cleared of felled trees by the end of March. The first rains came on 18th Mar 2001 and farming activities had started in both areas by the end of the month.
Several women had already been saved the hardship of walking long distances to remote farming areas.

By June 2002 most of the half million eucalyptus had been felled and over 5,000 women who had previously walked long distances to find new farming areas had been able to return to areas near their own homes where eucalyptus trees had been felled.
Seedlings from the nurseries had been distributed to 11 catchment areas and to eucalyptus owners whose trees had been felled.
Since the eucalyptus trees have been felled there has been a noticeable rise in water tables during the dry season.

MONITORING VISIT OF MIKE AND GLENYS THOMAS IN MARCH 2001
The purpose of the visit to the project area was to:
- check progress on the project
- visit representatives of most of the stakeholders and obtain their views on the
--project and the benefits expected
- observe how the beneficiaries are involved in the management of the project
- check the monitoring procedures and how they are being used in practice
- identify any problems associated with the management of the project
- record the project activities using both a camera and camcorder
- experience and record the difficulties of women who walk long distances to
--remote farming areas

BENEFICIARIES
Discussions were held with the representatives of more than 30 groups (representing about 3,000 women). Most expressed concern about the spread of eucalyptus. Many of these women who want to benefit from the project were not included in the programme because of funding limitations.
There was a hope, at the time the project application was submitted, that the awareness created during implementation would lead some of the more affluent owners of eucalyptus trees, not included in the project, to cut down their trees without any financial incentive. One such owner visited expected to obtain a greater financial benefit from changing the use of his land to agricultural purposes. This trend is expected to increase as the damaging effects of the eucalyptus, and the benefits of the indigenous trees, become more widely understood and appreciated.
There was a concern that the Government and the local Water Authority may start to enforce legislation requiring eucalyptus owners to cut down their trees within certain catchment and farming areas at their own expense. This would cause much hardship for poor sections of the community. In fact, many people would be unable to meet the costs involved.
Beneficiaries were actively engaged in the management of the project and a large number of women appear to have gained confidence from their involvement in setting up their own credit union co-operatives. The co-operative network is also giving women a sense of common purpose and a facility for the exchange of ideas. Also, an encouraging development was the extent to which women had been supported in this initiative by their husbands. For example, by providing a building in which women can meet regularly (usually once a month), building benches on which products bought in bulk can be stored and supplying drums for palm oil storage, etc.

All of these initiatives were clearly giving women a greater say and an active involvement in the decisions which influence their lives.

MONITORING PROCEDURES
A survey carried out by the women's' co-operatives prior to the start of the project (relating to a population of approx 189,000 and the felling of 1.5 mil eucalyptus trees) established the following:

- Springs which have dried up during the dry season: 676
- Water stand pipes which have dried up during the dry season: 208 (27% of the --total)
- Women walking long distances to farm: 63,875
- Women whose walking distance for fetching water and farming, will be greatly reduced if 1.5 mil trees are felled: 56,750

In order to relate the above figures to the project, divide by 3.

The monitoring procedures and standard forms being used by the SHUMAS staff are providing the following information:

- Springs which recover during the dry season (over 5 years)
- Flow measurements and water level recordings at selected catchment outlets
- The numbers of women able to farm closer to their homes as a result of the project
- The numbers of eucalyptus trees felled in each of the farming and catchment areas
- The numbers and species of seedlings in each of the tree nurseries plus records on their care and germination

PROBLEMS
At the time of the visit, some problems were being experienced with the chain saw contractors. The old chain saws being used were breaking down frequently and using more fuel than the new chain saw purchased by SHUMAS. The contractors were not using the kind of safety measures that are common practice in the UK and such measures might prove difficult to enforce.

The greatest problem experienced by SHUMAS was associated with the donation of a landrover by MIVA (a Swiss organisation).
The vehicle had been held by the Customs Department in Douala for three months despite a recommendation from a senior minister that all customs charges be waved. SHUMAS senior staff had suffered grossly unreasonable procrastination by Government officials and had made several wasted journeys to Douala and Yaoundi in trying to secure the release of the vehicle.
The land rover should have been available for the effective administration of the project. SHUMAS had been fortunate in obtaining a small jeep for the price of a new motorcycle (as provided for in the project) but this was not well suited to the very poor road conditions. The rent of a landrover would cost at least £25 per day (£375 per month if used every other day). The Customs Office had also threatened to charge storage fees in addition to duty on the vehicle (corruption was suspected).

Corruption by many internal security police is the common reality of life in the Cameroon. Vehicles are often stopped and money extorted from drivers without valid reason. Corruption was experienced during the monitoring visit when two policemen intimidated SHUMAS staff for two hours during a visit to one of the women's groups.

There is a vital need for income generating activities to supplement the meagre income that many women gain from agricultural activities. Women frequently go without the basics of life, like soap, for many days at a time.

In some areas goats are allowed to wander freely. This means that adjacent land owners must fence their land to protect their crops. This problem is being partly overcome by the availability of eucalyptus branches arising from the project but nevertheless fencing adds to the cost of farming the land and takes away the income that would otherwise be available from selling the wood for fuel.

There is little sign of severe malnutrition in the area, but most people are poor and have few possessions. Homes are generally of basic construction, usually clay block walls with corrugated steel clad roofs. However, improved housing does not appear to be a main concern. The chief problems relate to education and health. Most people cannot afford to pay for their children to get a good secondary education nor pay hospital bills when they are ill.
Missionaries have built a hospital in Kumbo but doctors are few.

Taxis are the chief mode of mechanised transport, but most people in the rural areas walk - to work - to school - to meetings - to church. Travel is difficult at all times because of the extremely poor roads. Government investment in infrastructure has been meagre and most people believe the reason is because this is an Anglophile area in what is a predominantly a Frankophile country - taxes go out of the area but little investment in local services and infrastructure comes back!
Dust is the main problem with travel in the dry season and roads are often impassable during heavy storms in the wet season - landfalls on some mountain roads are commonplace. Vehicles need frequent maintenance because of the road conditions. People must wash frequently to keep themselves and their clothes clean and yet piped water supplies are erratic.
Those living in rural areas must collect water in buckets from distant springs and streams (which are often polluted). This heavy task is usually done by women and children. Many of the problems of diminishing water supplies are attributed to the spread of eucalyptus trees as described above.

THE WALK TO NKUF
Four women, who are to shortly benefit from the project, have had to walk a distance of 15 miles to a remote area named Nkuf. Each time they have been there they have stayed for up to one month sleeping in small huts made of bamboo and grass with only a plastic sheet to cover them when it rains. The area is low lying and, unlike the cool upper regions around Kumbo and is occupied by mosquitoes, scorpions and snakes. When the women return they carry whatever produce they can on their heads.
On the 25th Mar 2001, Mike Thomas, together with three SHUMAS staff, accompanied four women (two of them carrying small children) on their last trip to Nkuf. They wanted to collect their tools and some of their produce.
The journey started from the tree nursery on the hill at Kongir at 10.00 a.m.
The plan was to walk for three hours to a place where the jeep (taking a longer route) would carry the party for the next three miles. The rest of the journey would be impassable by vehicle.
The first part of the walk continued uphill and two more hills were traversed before the meeting place with the jeep. The last descent was down a stony path on which it was difficult to maintain a foothold. There must have been a high risk of sustaining a sprained ankle on this path when travelled at night. Many women walk through the night to avoid the midday heat and a group of six women was passed at 10.30 a.m. returning to Kongir and Kumbo.
The middle section of the journey involved a steep decent into a very deep and remote valley. At this point the journey was stopped by a severe thunderstorm. With storm clouds still showing ahead and the consequent threat of damage to the camcorder, the main party parted company with the four women (plus a baby and young boy) who had then to walk for another three hours before reaching their destination at Nkuf.
The stony road back was extremely bad and rarely was the jeep able to travel at a speed greater than 5 m.p.h. This would have been a hazardous journey at night. The failure to complete the walk was disappointing, but in view of the failing light, the rains that stopped the walk might have been fortuitous.
However, the main purpose of the walk was to record what it was like for the women who had to make journeys like this on a regular basis and this objective was achieved. A hut similar to the one used by the women at Nkuf, was passed on the way back and this was filmed and photographed.
The general coordinator, Ndzerem Stephen, told me about four of his experiences when he made this same journey as a child with his father, and sometimes alone (his mother refused to go). They are worthy of mention here -

1. He encountered a large python whilst separated from his father who was-walking ahead of him. He ran and then stopped and called to his father . His father took a circuitous route to meet him and then found the people at a village who were expert at killing large snakes. Stephen was given the skin of the snake as memento of his encounter, but was unable to eat snake meat from that moment on.

2. The second incident also involved a snake. He was cutting long grass - holding the grass with the left hand whilst cutting with the right - when he accidentally caught the head of a viper. Fortunately the snake had just eaten a rat and was therefor unable to bite him.

3. The third event he remembered was an encounter with a group of monkeys. He ran from one of these who had stood up in front of him in an attacking pose.

He recalled how his father used to make a bed from bamboo to reduce the risk of night time encounters with snakes and scorpions. Because of these incidents, plus the physical effort involved with walking (often in the rain) and the farming activities, he was greatly relieved when he went to school and no longer had to make these journeys.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
The slower pace of life that may often be apparent to the Western tourist visiting Africa is deceptive. Most people get up early in the morning and can be found still working late at night.
Also, in contrast to the casual dress so often apparent in the West, Africans, especially women, take great pride in their cleanliness, dress and appearance, but without ostentation. Women who form groups like to have their own uniforms, which they wear for meetings and special events. Most people dress well when they attend religious services.
Volunteers and other visitors to the area in connection with project work, have all been greeted with warmth and generosity. Most groups like to give presents to their visitors.

Working with the staff of SHUMAS has been a rewarding experience for the FIOH Fund trustees. Thoughtful and kind gestures have reinforced this bond and some volunteers have come to regard SHUMAS as a part of their own families.
The modest house of Ndzerem Stephen and his wife Billian and their two children was an OPEN HOUSE. Rarely were there less than 7 people, and often 12 or more, in the front room of their house by the side of a main road in the heart of Bamenda. Friends, family and staff members move in and out of the house with ease and are always made to feel welcome.
SHUMAS staff work hard and the transition between work and leisure time often appears blurred. It was very clear that some staff members had to work long hours in order to facilitate the monitoring inspections and on no occasion did anyone complain.

Many people from the project area travelled to Bamenda (65 miles away) to attend the
co-operative Network meetings.

In addition to their work to improve the lives of rural women in the Kumbo area, SHUMAS is also involved in humanitarian work in urban situations in and around Bamenda, Wum and Douala. More recently SHUMAS has been working with young Moslem women in Douguia on the northern border with Chad and with neglected men held in prisons in the Northern Province. Much of the work in the urban areas is associated with sponsorship for the education of children with poor parents and income generating activities for disabled people. Three disabled people were interviewed during the monitoring visit.

In 2000, SHUMAS supplied cassava grating machines to 13 womens groups. This has greatly reduced the workload and increased the incomes of women growing cassava for conversion into the powdered state known as 'garri', a popular staple food.
SHUMAS runs many training courses on animal husbandry and organic crop growing methods and provides training, tools and equipment for disabled people to set up their own small businesses.

Strategic Humanitarian Services, PO Box 5047, Nkwen-Bamenda, NW Province,
Cameroon, Central Africa. EMail: bs_njodzeka@yahoo.com

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