Valorization of agro-forestry products from the Djà Biosphere Reserve

Bénéficiaire TF-RD - Tropical Forest & Rural Development
Montant du projet € 110 000
Subventions FFEM € 30 000
État du projet achevé

TF-RD benefits from a PPI, being finalized, intervening in the Biosphere Reserve of Dja, (RBD), and UNESCO World Heritage, with an area of 525,000 ha, (most of which is in integral conservation), housing significant populations of gorillas, chimpanzees and elephants and a peripheral area of 950,000 ha where the project is operating in its northern part.

The RBD faces various pressures both local (poaching, slash-and-burn agriculture) and external, in particular linked to the reconversion of the forest into oil palm and cocoa plantations, the latter representing 50% of the income of households.

As economic support to communities on the outskirts of the reserve has been neglected by conservation stakeholders, the PPI has made it possible to rehabilitate 50 ha of old cocoa trees and to enrich with domesticated local species, (around 55,000 cocoa plants, 40,000 plants plantains and 850 local fruit trees), 50 ha of old fallow land, which prevented the opening of new plots in virgin forest areas.

158 producers involved in this project are now grouped together within the RBD Periphery Cocoa Producers Cooperative. This project intends to pursue the same development model, (local understanding of environmental issues and development of an economic fabric compatible with the conservation of resources), which is based on family farming and the valuation of NTFPs; the cocoa producer cooperative created will be structured and cocoa better sold on the markets, thanks to the introduction of certification according to Rainforest standards.

The cofinancing of the Zoo of Prague supports several environmental education actions in around thirty schools, (exchange trips between schools in the region, reforestation carried out by students and environmental clubs, etc.), 17 villages will be concerned covering around 3,500 ha of the peripheral zone.

Détails du projet

Pays : Cameroun

Financeurs : 3 Financeurs

Durée du projet : 24 mois

Convention : 09/03/2015

Principales activités

A business plan of the cocoa producers cooperative is produced to plan for the future as well as a document specifying the necessary training for members and the needs for equipment and personnel;

Two grouped sales of unprocessed cocoa will be made, generating around 100 M FCFA, (150,000 €) for at least 100 producers;

Within the cooperative, 30 women are trained in cocoa butter and Moabi oil production techniques;

A unit for processing cocoa beans into cocoa butter and moabi almond into oil is set up and co-managed by TF-RD and the cooperative; it produces 20 tonnes of cocoa butter beans and 10 tonnes of moabi almonds which will be transformed into oil to generate around 40 M FCFA;

Two partnerships, (one at the national level and one at the international level), are concluded for the sale of 95% of the production, (around 4,000 liters of cocoa butter and 2,000 liters of moabi oil will be processed by the women);

Certification standards, (good agricultural, environmental and social practices, traceability and surveillance, facilitation and communication), and the establishment of an Internal Control System, (ICS), of cocoa quality;

According to Rainforest’s requirements, 20 fruit trees are needed per hectare: three new workshops, (shed, propagator, woodlot and nursery), to produce 1,500 local tree seedlings, (moabis, wild mango trees, safout trees, orange trees, tangerines, avocados, Moringas), will be installed;

At least 50% of producers engage in certification and at the end of the project an internal audit is carried out on at least 50% of them to verify the level of compliance with the “Sustainable Agriculture Network” (SAN) standards;

About 180 students and members of the Eco-club (composed of children, teachers who have participated in previous trips, placed under the Curator), 20 teachers out of 35 and 15 eco-guards out of 20, in this sector of the northern outskirts of the reserve, master the functioning of the forest ecosystem and the socio-ecology of great apes;

Trips for 30 schools are organized to the Mefou National Park and the “Limbe Wildlife;

Center”viron 500 arbres locaux Moringa, Moabi, manguier sauvage sont plantés dans la périphérie nord de la RBD par l’Ecoclub;

About 500 local Moringa, Moabi, wild mango trees are planted in the northern outskirts of the RBD by the Ecoclub.

Aimé EPANDA

Contactez-le

Nos Financeurs

Les projets similaires

Tous nos projets