About Us
Our Story
Improving Agriculture and Livelihoods with Expertise and Care
Founded in 2003 by Valentine Akoumbou Boyo, Ecogerm Farmers began as a small organisation with a vision to equip local farmers with modern farming techniques. Over the years, we’ve grown into a team of dedicated professionals who share a common goal: to transform the agricultural landscape of Cameroon through professionalism and innovative agricultural solutions.
The Goal
Our Mission
Our mission is to empower rural communities in Cameroon through sustainable agricultural practices, biodiversity conservation, access to clean water, gender equality, and community-based healing and training initiatives. By providing essential inputs, knowledge, and resources, we strive to enhance food security, promote environmental stewardship, and improve the overall well-being of local farmers, especially in conflict-affected regions.
The Outlook
Our Vission
We envision a thriving, self-sufficient rural Cameroon where every farmer has access to quality inputs, clean water, equal opportunities, and a healthy environment—preserving biodiversity and uplifting communities for generations to come.
Activities
Our Activities and Initiatives
Activity
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.
Activity
Plant 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.
Initiative
Water quality management
There are some communities in Cameroon without access to portable water. The poor drinking water usually results in local populations contracting waterborne diseases such as cholera. We establish, manage, protect, and evaluate community-based water systems. We also subsidise drugs to cure waterborne and related diseases to help improve the livelihoods of local farmers.
Initiative
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.
Activity
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.
- 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.
Giving Back
Community Involvement
We believe in supporting our community and giving back through various initiatives. Whether it’s volunteering for local agricultural projects or environmental education programs, we are dedicated to making a positive impact.