CAMEROON: Overall study of past actions of management of agro-pastoral lands, areas and resources (Gestion des Sols, des Espaces et Ressources Pastoraux / GSERP) and Final evaluation of the Soils Conservation Project in northern Cameroon (Projet de Conservation des Sols au Nord Cameroun / PCS – ESA II)

Project description

The Soil Conservation Project in Northern Cameroon (PCS – ESA II) (2007 – 2012), financed by the French Development Agency (AFD) aimed at promoting a new form of agriculture to enable the fight against poverty more effectively by improving crop productivity and preserving the natural heritage, particularly soil quality and fertility, through improved integration of agricultural practices and human activities within these ecosystems.

The specifics objectives of the project were: i) To pursue development of plots, revegetation of spaces, weirs construction, dissemination of organic manure, with a more comprehensive integration of the sociologic, pedologic and climatic specificities of each areas of intervention; ii) To design a methodology of vulgarization and to initiate the dissemination of the agricultural practices related to undersowing beside the most numerous producers. The key issues of this component were to manage the adaptation of the crop management, which were intended to restore and enhance the soils fertility to the regional specificities while assuring a level of productivity at least equal to the traditional crop management. Above all, this component aimed to define the specific and accurate methods and procedures necessary for a large-scale dissemination.

Services provided

In 2012, CA 17 International was recruited by the Cameroon Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, to handle the final evaluation of the PCS-ESA II, which has placed a particular emphasis on aspects related to methodological issues and achievements’ quality as part of a comprehensive and critical analysis of the previous achievements of the GSERP. This evaluation approach aimed to bring out consistency and progression from the miscellaneous interventions of the projects, and to draw lessons and relevant areas of intervention for any future intervention in the framework of integrated management of cultivated and pastoral areas.