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Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:52:01 +0000
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I am Eyongetta Njieassam, a Ph.d candidate at the University of dschang, Cameroon and I also take part time lectures at the University of Buea, Cameroon.

I am writing about small farm holders and their contribution to food security and sustainability.

Here in Cameroon, small farm holders are limited to people who practice peasant agriculture. They live in the rural environment and they carry out their activities mainly using family labour. Small farm holders manage 80 percent of land and they contribute to food security through the following ways:

* Food production: primary production of food is carried out by small farms through agriculture, livestock, poultry and aquaculture etc. Small farms are central players in the production of food. These food resources include cereals, tubers, corn, livestock and chicken. In many rural families aquaculture and artisanal fishing is carried out. Due to their huge population, their activities has provided huge amount of food available for consumption through sales.

* Stage of processing: small farms contribute in food processing. They tend to convert primary products to semi-finished products and consumables. Like in the northwest and southwest regions in Cameroon, rural women harvest cassava tuber plant and process it to flour, garri and even fufu. Livestock products are harvested and preserved in parts of north west north and western region such as pasturised milk and meat for direct consumption or further processing.

*Supply to markets: the high energetic farmers and peasants make it possible to bring their goods to local evening markets and junctions with the help of trucks and motorcycles. This makes it easier for these goods to be accessed and transported to international markets and border countries like Nigeria, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea etc.

Despite the challenging situations, this talented group of people has a good sound practice approach for the environment. Their mode of farming and their lack of resources has made them be able to adapt a sound practice for a sustainable development.

They merely produce organic waste and they are not engaged with only one perspective of cultivation hence they tend to recycle natural resources and preserve the environment. Peasant farmers inherited the practice of agro-forestry. They cannot fell all the tress in the farm land due to lack of resources hence they practice cultivation with trees. Most of their organic waste is used to make compost manure with waste from poultry and cow manure which is used to re-fertilise the soil with organic nitrate. More and many of their activities help secure the world and provide more food to the world with a sound practice to the environment

Eyongetta Stanley Njieassam
C/o faculty of agriculture and veterinary medicine
University of Buea
P.O. box 63 
Buea 
Cameroon
E-mail: stanley_emann (at) yahoo.co.uk

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