Diversify diets, strengthen communities

How growing and eating vegetables changes lives and livelihoods in Cameroon’s Far north region.

Viewing the field demonstration plots and different crop treatments.

The World Vegetable Center liaison office in Cameroon organized a field day on 4 March 2020 at Mokong in the Far north region to promote the production and consumption of vegetables for diet diversification.

More than 170 participants attended the field day, including a representative of the Regional Delegate of Public Health (RDPH), the divisional delegate of the ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MINADER), the head of the Mokolo health district, the heads of health centers, the chief of the Mokong agricultural post, the Lamidot of Mokong and traditional rulers, the community health relays, lead mothers and fathers.

WorldVeg research assistant Ronal Chendjou led a tour of the demonstration plots, where participants saw how different vegetable varieties performed under different systems (with and without biochar and manure; planting on ridges; planting in sunken beds). Nineteen varieties of 9 different vegetables crops were displayed in the demonstration plot: African nightshade (3), amaranth (1), jute mallow (3), Roselle (1), moringa (1), tomato (3), African eggplant (2), okra (3) and carrot (1).

Consultant nutritionist Willie Kemgueu emphasized the importance of vegetables for nutrition and supervised a cooking demonstration of two African nightshade dishes: sautéed nightshade and nightshade with groundnut to accompany red sorghum fufu. The African nightshade was harvested from the demonstration plot while the communities provide the red sorghum. All participants sampled the food and enjoyed the flavors and textures.

The event was part of activities for “Improving diet diversity among children aged 0-23 months in Mokolo health district in the Far-north region of Cameroon,” a project supported by the United Nations Fund for Children’s Fund (UNICEF) through the funding of the German Development Bank (KFW) for the nutrition aspects, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for vegetable production activities.

The RDPH representative was impressed by the integrated Agriculture – Nutrition – Health approach used by the project, but also was concerned about the project’s sustainability. That concern was allayed when it was explained that there is a high level of ownership in the project because the beneficiaries participate in the establishment and maintenance of the demonstration plots and contribute to the cooking demonstrations.

During the field day, farmers who set up and maintain the demonstration plot and joined in the cooking demonstration shared their experiences with fellow farmers. Traditional rulers were delighted after they saw firsthand how the project benefits their communities; they encouraged more people to become involved and reiterated their full support for the project.