About Us
WE ARE
Ecogerm Farmers
Ecogerm farmers is a community-based organization working with local farming groups within the North-west and South-West regions of Cameroon. By sharing ideas and knowledge, we strive to improve agricultural production, employing high-quality indigenous seeds and planting materials. We work hand-in-hand with these communities to analyze and interpret useful information on the interaction of various species in their respective agro-ecology to improve yields and consequently livelihoods
WHAT WE DO
We carry out the following activites
Agricultural production and management
We subsidize basis farm inputs, making them affordable to rural farmers, thus increasing their production. We search for local and international markets to improve the lives of these rural farmers. Furthermore,we also give out first hand information on crop production, management and storage in an attempt to empower farmers.
Biodiversity conservation
Cameroon is home to a diverse range of landraces, including grains, fruits, and vegetables, which have been adapted to local conditions over centuries. However, modern farming practices and climate change have threatened the survival of many landraces, making conservation efforts more important than ever.
We have made it our mission to regenerate, safety duplicate and properly store these landraces to preserve them for future generations.
Water quality management
There are some communities in Cameroon without access to portable water. The poor drinking water usually results in local populations contracting water-borne diseases such as cholera.
We establish, manage, protect, and evaluate community-based water systems. We also subsidize drugs to cure water-borne and related diseases to help improve the livelihoods of local farmers.
Gender equality advocacy
Women are often disenfranchised in our communities, especially when benefiting from project resources is concerned. It is therefore necessary to advocate for women and men to have equal opportunities and access to resources.
Women have also historically been left out of the decision-making process. At Ecogerm, we are introducing more women in decision-making roles and empowering them to make decisions that benefit themselves.
Trauma healing and training
Social problems like land disputes and grazing problems are bound to arise in farming communities. This usually leads to grudges and grievances. We help settle these disputes and reconcile the involved parties.
Moreover, training programs like workshops and seminars are important tools through which we help farmers adopt and develop solutions to problems they face in the society. We train farmers to take care of their environment and handle socio-economic factors that hamper development.
ACHIEVEMENTS
We made the following achievements
- We are currently working with 450 farmers in partnership with Crop Trust to regenerate and safely duplicate landraces within Cameroon’s war-stricken Northwest region. The common goal is to set up a Community Seed Reserve with a modern storage facility, Safety duplicate them in IITA Ibadan and Svalbard seed Vault.
- Supported 50 farming groups with subsidized vegetable seeds.
- Assisted in sensitization and training of 31 farming groups by providing training on ecological sanitation.
- Assisted 50 soybeans’ groups.
- Supplied pesticides and farming equipment to farmers.
- Created employment by recruiting the permanent staff and part-time workers.
- Assisted 20 water communities, where we carried out water analysis for water-related diseases.
- Earmarked 5 water communities for project proposal follow-ups.
- Assisted 25 bee-keeping farming groups by providing the Kenyan Top Bar (KTB) bee hives.