home icon user icon
Welcome to International Network for Natural Sciences | INNS Pub.
Home My Account
Submit Manuscript
double_slash
breadcumb_bg

Urban and peri-urban agriculture in Cameroon: Status and perspectives for development

Paper Details

Research Paper 01/09/2017
Views (362) Download (17)
current_issue_feature_image
publication_file

Urban and peri-urban agriculture in Cameroon: Status and perspectives for development

Kenfack Essougong Urcil Papito
Int. J. Agron. Agri. Res.11( 3), 116-127, September 2017.
Certificate: IJAAR 2017 [Generate Certificate]
Key: CameroonEnvironmentFood securityLivelihoodsSustainabilityUrban planning

Abstract

Like elsewhere in the world, Cameroon is experiencing rapid and unplanned urbanisation. Simultaneously, there is a growing number of urban and peri-urban farmers. This paper analyses the status of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in Cameroon. We found that UPA is widely practised by urban dwellers of all social category and provides multiple benefits ranging from employment creation, revenues, food security and environmental services. However, due to an improper planning, its non-official recognition, insufficient access to productive resources especially land and water; in some cases, UPA can negatively impact human health and environment because of an uncontrolled intensification of production systems and the questionable quality of the food supplied by urban farmers. Therefore, to build sustainable urban production systems, we recommend an official recognition of UPA, its inclusion in urban master plans; the demarcation and development of agricultural zones in cities, the design and implementation of programmes and projects to support urban farmers; intensive farmers capacity building and the promotion of urban waste valorisation through composting. Furthermore, more empirical researches are needed to provide up to date quantifiable information on UPA contribution to urban livelihoods, food security and environmental protection, and the types of relationships existing among the various stakeholders involved in UPA.

VIEWS 16
Cover PDF

Abang AF, Kouame CM, Abang M, Hannah R, Fotso AK. 2013. Vegetable growers perception of pesticide use practices, cost, and health effects in the tropical region of Cameroon. International journal of Agronomy and Plant Production 4(5), 873-883.

Antonio-Nkondjio C, Fossog BT, Ndo C, Djantio MB, Togouet ZC, Awono-Ambene P, Costantini C, Wondji CS, Ranson H. 2011. Anopheles gambiae distribution and insecticide resistance in the cities of Douala and Yaoundé (Cameroon): influence of urban agriculture and pollution. Malaria Journal 10,154. www.malariajournal.com/content/10/1/154.

Antonio-Nkondjio C, Fossog TB, Kopya E, Poumachu Y, Djantio MB, Ndo C, Tchuinkam T, Awono-Ambene P, Wondji CS. 2015. Rapid evolution of pyrethroid resistance prevalence in Anopheles gambiae populations from the cities of Douala and Yaoundé (Cameroon). Malaria Journal 14, 155. DOI: 10.1186/S12936-015-0675-6 .

Asongwe GA, Yerima BPK, Tening AS. 2014. Vegetable Production and the Livelihood of Farmers in Bamenda Municipality, Cameroon. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences 3(12), 682-700.

Bopda A, Awono L. 2010. Institutional develop-ment of urban agriculture – an ongoing history of Yaoundé. In: Prain G, Karanja NK, Lee-Smith D, Eds. African Urban Harvest: Agriculture in the Cities of Cameroon, Kenya and Uganda. New York: Springer, Ottawa: IDRC p. 71-94.

Bopda A, Brummett R, Dury S, Elong P, Foto-Menbohan S, Gockowski J, Kana C, Kengue J, Ngonthe R, Nolte C, Soua N, Tanawa E, Tchoundjeu Z, Temple L. 2010. Urban farming systems in Yaoundé – building a mosaic. In: Prain G, Karanja NK, Lee-Smith D, Eds. African Urban Harvest: Agriculture in the Cities of Cameroon, Kenya and Uganda. New York: Springer, Ottawa: IDRC p. 39-59.

De Bon H, Parrot L, Moustier P. 2010. Sustainable urban agriculture in developing countries: A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development 30, 21-32. DOI: 10.1051/AGRO: 2008062.

Defang HF, Kana JR, Bime MJ, Ndebi G, Yemele F, Zoli PA, Manjeli Y, Teguia A, Tchoumboue J. 2014. Socioeconomic and technical characteristics of pig farming in the urban and peri – urban zone of Dschang – West region of Cameroon. Discourse Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences 2(1), 11-20.

Defo C, Yerima BPK, Noumsi K, Bemmo N. 2015. Assessment of heavy metals in soils and groundwater in an urban watershed of Yaoundé (Cameroon-West Africa). Environmental Monitoring Assessment 187(3), 77. DOI: 10.1007/S10661-015-4292-1.

Dongmo T, Meffeja F, Fotso JM, Nolte C. 2010. Crop–livestock integration in the urban farming systems of Yaoundé. In: Prain G, Karanja NK, Lee-Smith D, Eds. African Urban Harvest: Agriculture in the Cities of Cameroon, Kenya and Uganda. New York: Springer, Ottawa: IDRC p. 61-70.

Drechsel P, Quansah C, Penning De Vries F. 1999. Urban and peri-urban agriculture in West Africa – Characteristics, challenges, and need for action. In: Olanrewaju, BS, Ed. Urban agriculture in West Africa: contributing to food security and urban sanitation. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, Wageningen: Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation p. 19-40.

FAO and World Bank. 2008. Urban agriculture for sustainable poverty alleviation and food security. Rome: FAO. www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/FCIT/ PDF/UPA_-Wbpaper Final_October_2008.pdf.

Fonchingong C. 1999. Structural Adjustment, Women, and Agriculture in Cameroon. Gender and Development 7(3), 73-79. www.jstor.org/ stable/4030412.

Food and Agriculture Organisation. 2001. Urban and peri-urban agriculture: A briefing guide for the successful implementation of Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture in Developing Countries and Countries of Transition. Rome: FAO. www.fao.org/docs/eims/upload/215253/briefing_guid.

Gockowski J, Mbazo’o J, Mbah G, Moulende FT. 2003. African traditional leafy vegetables and the urban and peri-urban poor. Food Policy 28, 221-235. www.doi.org/10.1016/S0306-9192(03)00029-0.

Grebitus C, Printezis I, Printezis A. 2017. Relationship between Consumer Behavior and Success of Urban Agriculture. Ecological Economics 136, 189-200. www.dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017. .

Lagerkvist CJ. 2014. Economic drivers for urban and peri-urban agriculture. In: Magnusson U, Bergman KF, Eds. Urban and peri-urban agriculture for food security in low-income countries – challenges and knowledge gaps. Uppsala: SLU Global Editors p. 11-15.

Lee-smith D. 2010. Cities feeding people: an update on urban agriculture in equatorial Africa. Environment & Urbanization 22(2), 483-499. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177%2F0956247810377383.

Magnusson U, Bergman KF, Katunguka RE. 2014. Introduction to urban and peri-urban agriculture for food security. In: Magnusson U, Bergman KF, Eds. Urban and peri-urban agriculture for food security in low-income countries – challenges and knowledge gaps. Uppsala: SLU Global Editors p. 4-5.

Musa T. 1996. Yaoundé, Cameroon Capital Becomes Garden City. Urban agriculture notes. Vancouver: City Farmer, Canada’s Office of Urban Agriculture. www.cityfarmer.org/cameroon.html.

Ngome I, Foeken D. 2012. ‘‘My garden is a great help’’: gender and urban gardening in Buea, Cameroon. GeoJournal 77, 103-118.

Nguegang PA. 2008. L’agriculture urbaine et périurbaine à Yaoundé : analyse multifonctionnelle d’une activité montante en économie de survie, Thèse en Sciences Agronomiques et Ingénierie Biologique, Université Libre de Bruxelles 200 p.

Nkamleu GB, Adesina AA. 2000. Determinants of chemical input use in peri-urban lowland systems: bivariate probit analysis in Cameroon. Agricultural Systems 63, 11-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0308-521X(99)00074-8.

Noubissie E, Ngassoum MB, Ali A, Castro-Georgi J, Donard OFX. 2016. Contamination of market garden soils by metals (Hg, Sn, Pb) and risk for vegetable consumers of Ngaoundéré (Cameroon). Euro-Mediterranean Journal for Environmental Integration 1, 9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41207-016-0009-2.

Orsini F, Kahane R, Nono-Womdim R, Gianquinto G. 2013. Urban agriculture in the developing world: A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development 33(4), 695-720. doi: 10.1007/s13593-013-0143-z.

Page B. 2002. Urban Agriculture in Cameroon: An Anti-Politics Machine in the Making? Geoforum 33, 41-54 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7185(01)00022-7.

Parrot L, Dongmo C, Ndoumbé M, Poubom C. 2008. Horticulture, livelihoods, and urban transition in Africa: evidence from South-West Cameroon. Agricultural economics 39(2), 245-56. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-0862.2008.00330.x.

Parrot L, Sotamenou J, Kamgnia DB, Nantchouang A. 2009a. Determinants of domestic waste input use in urban agriculture lowland systems in Africa: The case of Yaoundé in Cameroon. Habitat international 33(4), 357-364. www.doi.org/10. 1016/j.habitatint.2008.08.002.

Parrot L, Sotamenou J, Kamgnia DB. 2009b. Municipal solid waste management in Africa : strategies and livelihoods in Yaoundé´, Cameroon. Waste management 29, 986-995. https://doi.org /10.1016/j.wasman.2008.05.005.

Prain G. 2010. The Institutional and Regional Context. In: Prain G, Karanja NK, Lee-Smith D, Eds. African Urban Harvest: Agriculture in the Cities of Cameroon, Kenya and Uganda. New York: Springer, Ottawa: IDRC p.1-11.

Rezai G, Shamsudin MN, Mohamed Z. 2016. Urban Agriculture: A Way Forward to Food and Nutrition Security in Malaysia. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 216, 39-45. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.12.006.

Sotamenou J, Parrot L. 2013. Sustainable urban agriculture and the adoption of composts in Cameroon. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability 11(3), 282-295. http://dx.doi.org/10. 1080/14735903.2013.811858.

UN habitat. 2016b. Notes de politique urbaine nationale du Cameroun. Nairobi: Programme des Nations Unies pour les établissements humains. http://icnup.urbanpolicyplatform.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/06_A4_NOTE-Synthetique-de-PNU-Cameroun-1.pdf.

UN-Habitat. 2016a. Urbanization and Development: Emerging Futures. World Cities Report 2016. Nairobi: United Nations Human Settlements Programme. http://wcr.unhabitat.org/wp-content/ uploads/2017/ 02/WCR-2016_-Abridged-version-1.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 1996. Urban Agriculture: Food, Jobs and Sustainable Cities. United Nations Development Program, Publication Series for Habitat II, Volume One. New York: UNDP. www.trabal.org/courses/pdf/UN-Urban%20Agriculture%20-%20Par.

Yemmafouo A. 2014. L’agriculture urbaine camerounaise. Au-delà des procès, un modèle socioculturel à intégrer dans l’aménagement urbain. Géocarrefour 89(1-2), 85-93. https://geocarrefour. revues.org/9413.

Submit Manuscript