Combating land grab and damage of crops by aphids will restore food security, and fight poverty in the village of Mondoni.
Over 600 hectares of cropped land in Mondoni (Cameroon) is facing the threats of devastation by an aphid-borne virus. Plantain and cocoa plants have been damaged by this disease resulting in no yields and hence no harvest for over 590 farmers. Additionally,these farmers must plant perennial land-holding crops such as palms to prevent an eminent land seizure by a government-owned agro-company. Starvation and a threatened land-ownership will result unless a quick fix is found.
This project will supply the right chemical (pesticide) that will destroy the aphids and hence the virus. The project will additionally supply the farmers with free palm seedlings. By planting these seedlings the farmers will eventually claim their land. Marrying palms seedling planting with chemical pesticide spray will restore both land-ownership and the threatened food security for the hundreds of the affected farmers.
The farmers hope of maintaining land-ownership on a cultivated field free from the banana bunchy top virus will restore food security. It is estimated over 160 hectares of threatened land under the announced land-grab policy will be saved. Over 1500 tons of plantain bunches and cassava tubers will be produced under this project. Most if not all will be processed into garri and plantain chip, both of which serve as food for all Cameroonians. This project will go a long way to fight poverty.
