case studies undp: riba agroforestry resource centre, cameroon
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7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: RIBA AGROFORESTRY RESOURCE CENTRE, Cameroon
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Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities
Cameroon
RIBA AGROFORESTRYRESOURCE CENTRE
Empowered live
Resilient nation
Empowered live
Resilient nation
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UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES
Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that wo
or people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth
their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practition
themselves guiding the narrative.
To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser
that details the work o Equator Prize winners vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmenconservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succ
to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models
replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence to The Power o Local Action: Lessons rom 10 Years
the Equator Prize, a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.
Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiatives searchable case study database.
EditorsEditor-in-Chie: Joseph Corcoran
Managing Editor: Oliver Hughes
Contributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding
Contributing Writers
Edayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Toni Blackman, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Larissa Currado, Sarah Gordon, Oliver Hughes,Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Patrick Lee, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma, Mar
McGraw, Gabriele Orlandi, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding, Luna Wu
Design
Oliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Amy Korngiebel, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen, Lorena de la Parra
Brandon Payne, Mariajos Satizbal G.
Acknowledgements
The Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude the guidance and inputs o Kangong George (Riba Agroorestry Resource Centre) Anne Wachira (World Agroorestry Centre). All photo credits courtesy o the Riba Agroorestry Resource Centre and Charlie Pye-Smith/W
Agroorestry Centre. Maps courtesy o CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia.
Suggested Citation
United Nations Development Programme. 2012. Riba Agroorestry Resource Centre, Cameroon. Equator Initiative Case Study Series. New Y
NY.
http://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=casestudysearch&Itemid=858http://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdf -
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PROJECT SUMMARYRiba Agroorestry Resource Centre is a community-based organization working in mountainous northwestCameroon, close to Kilum-Ijim Mountain Forest. The Centrepromotes sustainable tree-based arming to rehabilitatewatersheds and degraded land and generate income or thelocal community. A rural resource centre provides trainingin agroorestry and nursery management, watershedprotection, beekeeping, micronance, and marketing otree seedlings and arm produce.
The initiatives tree-based arming system has successully
halted deorestation and improved soil ertility, whilesales rom tree and honey nurseries are supportingsustainable livelihoods. The initiative is guided by a sel-help ethos, which has served to empower members o thecommunity, promote gender equity, and instill a belie inthe communitys collective capacity to achieve positivechange and a sustainable uture.
KEY FACTS
EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2010
FOUNDED: 1995
LOCATION: Bui Division, northwest Cameroon
BENEFICIARIES: 26 satellite farmer groups
BIODIVERSITY: Bamenda Highlands
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RIBA AGROFORESTRY RESOURCECENTRECameroon
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Background and Context 4
Key Activities and Innovations 5
Biodiversity Impacts 6
Socioeconomic Impacts 6
Sustainability 8
Replication 9
Partners 9
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iba is a community located in the mountainous Bui Division o
Cameroon, 2,000 meters above sea level. A prominent eature o
he local landscape is the Kilum-Ijim Forest, the largest remaining
Aro-montane orest in West Arica. The orest is a vestige o regional
iodiversity, and contains a wide range o unique ecosystems, ora
nd auna. The local economy and that o the region writ large
is highly dependent on agriculture. The mountainsides and hills
urrounding Riba, however, have been heavily logged and degraded,
which has resulted in a loss o soil ertility, biodiversity and overall
conomic security or the local population.
iba Agroorestry Resource Centre (RARC) was established to
romote sustainable tree-based arming systems as a way oestoring soil ertility and improving the livelihoods and productivity
local armers. The vast majority o RARC activities are carried out
hrough a community-unded Rural Resource Centre. Trainings are
rovided to local armers in agroorestry and nursery management,
watershed protection, bee-keeping, use o micronance, and
marketing o tree seedlings and arm produce.
A local centre o excellence in agroorestry
he group began as the Riba Young Foresters Club in 1995 with the
im o promoting sustainable agroorestry. Over the next ew years,
he club was assisted by several Peace Corps volunteers to become
egally registered as a common initiative group. This is a legalesignation under Cameroon land law (Law No 92/006 o 14 August
992), which anoints community leaders as ocial custodians o
overnment-owned land, giving them control over its distribution
nd responsibility or resolving any emerging conicts. In 2002, the
riginal architects o the initiative agreed on a project structure
hat would include training activities, business development, and
arming. Ater some undraising within and outside the community,
nd ollowing establishment o demonstration arms to test activities
nd techniques, Riba Agroorestry Resource Center was born.
RARC now covers seven hectares o land with a woodlot, a tape
o tree hedges, a thriving tree nursery, and ertile elds where w
beans and potatoes are grown. The Rural Resource Centre gro
house oces, a training hall and dormitories or visiting ar
groups. RARC oversees 26 satellite armer groups, all o whom
applying their agroorestry techniques. Satellite group mem
range on average between 10 and 45 armers. Each grou
engaged in soil ertility restoration activities, nursery managem
and tree domestication techniques. The majority o armers
grow indigenous ruit trees in their nurseries.
The initiative has a vision o local armers empowered to imp
their livelihoods through community-driven sustainable naresource management. RARC aims to impart to armers
understanding o how agroorestry can improve arm product
and long-term sustainability. Agroorestry skills are also ap
to the sustainable management o water resources through
protection o catchment areas. Decision-making occurs in a Ge
Assembly, in which every registered community member is ab
vote on proposals made by an Organizing Committee.
Background and Context
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Key Activities and Innovations
Riba Agroorestry Resource Centre ocuses its energy and eforts
on two diferent areas. The rst is helping armers to improve soil
ertility and, by extension, crop yields. This is accomplished largely
hrough the planting o leguminous plants (what the initiative reers
o as ertilizer trees), which x atmospheric nitrogen. The group
lso has trained armers in contouring, alley cropping, allows, and
omposting, all o which help to improve soil ertility and combat
oil erosion.
he second priority activity or RARC is supporting armers to
omesticate superior varieties o indigenous ruit trees Arican
plum (Dacryodes edulis), bush mango (Irvingia gabonensis), and other
pecies that reduce armer dependency on cash crops such as cocoand cofee, which are oten subject to dramatic price uctuations.
ree domestication is undertaken through a participatory approach.
armers work cooperatively with researchers rom the World
Agroorestry Centre, Ministry o Agriculture and Rural Developm
and other technical agencies to develop and select superior vari
o trees that are adapted to individual arms. In this activity
RARC has helped to introduce non-mist propagators, air laye
marcotting, grating, budding and pre-treatment o seeds or q
germination.
Above all else, RARC is a learning and knowledge sharing plat
or armers to share their experiences peer-to-peer and to rec
technical guidance that is tailored to their livelihood ne
Knowledge exchanges have been carried out in the areas o
domestication, soil ertility restoration, biodiversity conserva
strategies, watershed management, organic arming, honeywheat production, environmental education, and the cultiva
and promotion o medicinal plants.
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Impacts
BIODIVERSITY IMPACTSThe Bamenda Highlands o the northwest region o Cameroon
re home to a wide variety o animal species. Endemic primates
nclude chimpanzees, the western lowland gorilla, Pruesss Monkeys,
nd Black Monkeys. The area is also an important habitat or
ardvarks, the western highland antelope, and the our-horned
hameleon. Several important plant species propagate in this
highland ecosystem. Oncoba lophocarpa, or example, grows only
n Cameroon and primarily in this region. Chassalia laikomensis is
endemic and is classied as critically endangered by the IUCN Red
ist, while Scheera mannii is classied as vulnerable. Further, the
rea is home to a number o medicinal plants, including PrunusAricana, Allanblackia gabonensis, and Entada Abyssinica.
Combating deorestation and species loss
The region and its ecosystems have sufered extensive deorestation.
Between 1987 and 1995, 25 per cent o the orest was lost in one
rea o the Bamenda Highlands. RARC has worked to rehabilitate
degraded lands through sustainable agroorestry, which has paid
dividends or the local armers in improved on-arm vegetation
nd productivity. In 2008-09 alone, over 117,000 seedlings were
grown and planted on community arms. Integrating traditional
orest species into arming systems, RARC has successully reduced
pressure on surrounding orests. Where timber and non-timberorest products were previously harvested in the orest exerting
pressure on an already ragile and declining ecosystem they are
now harvested in arming systems. The regions watersheds have
lso been protected. Over 16,000 trees have been strategically
planted in riparian strips to improve availability o water in the
ommunity, which is particularly important during the dry season.
Tree species were selected based on specic qualities related to
water purication and ltration.
Many o the trees now grown on the community arms or exaEnantia chlorantha, Voacanga aricana, and Prunus Aricana
threatened montane species, which also provide important hab
or local bird and monkey species. There has been a resurgen
two tree species (Swietenia mocrophyla and Clorophora excela)
one monkey species (Red Colobus), the populations o which
dwindling or, in the case o the Red Colobus monkey had vanish
the region altogether. Birds have also prolierated in the comm
arms. When the initiative began, the Grey Beaked Camarop
warbler was one o the only birds seen in large numbers. By
2010, twenty-one diferent species o birds were living and thr
in the region, and an additional nineteen visiting on a seasonal b
varying each season depending on tree and crop yields. RARCcreated a biodiversity impact assessment orm which is compl
by participating armers and RARC outreach ocers. Data colle
is carried out door-to-door and arm-to-arm.
SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS
The socioeconomic benets o RARCs work are closely li
with its biodiversity benets. The adoption o tree-based arm
has had both planned and unplanned biodiversity benets
diversication o tree species would qualiy as a planned biodive
benet. On the other hand, the prolieration o organisms in
soil and wildlie in the region would perhaps qualiy as unplan
biodiversity benets. Both outcomes, however, regardless ointent, have translated to better agro-ecological unctions, m
productive arming systems, a reduced need or articial erti
and pesticides, and improved local incomes.
For instance, RARC promotes intercropping with nitrogen-
tree species, such as Calliandra, Sesbania and Tephrosia. This
improved soil ertility and resulted in a doubling o crop y
In the case o one armer, where he used to harvest only
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50-kilogram bag o maize per year, he can now harvest up to six
bags rom the same plot o land, credited largely to improved soil
ertility rom appropriate trees. Boundary trees have also been
planted on community arms to act as windbreakers. A woodlot on
he hilltop provides odder or livestock and a habitat or bees. RARC
also promotes the domestication o indigenous ruit trees, using
vegetative propagation techniques such as grating and marcotting.
ncome generation
Sales rom the RARC tree nurseries have rapidly improved local
ncomes over the last ve years. Early on, nurseries made little in
he way o prots. Once they were well-established, however, they
began to generate signicant revenues. On average, armers that
built and maintained tree nurseries began to see a return on their
nvestment in two years. Annual sales rom RARC nurseries rose
rom USD 90 in 2003 to USD 1,350 in 2009. For satellite nurseries
over the same period, sales grew rom USD 20 to USD 100. Similar
ncome benets were seen over the same period rom Irish potatoesSolanum tuberosum), where revenues rose rom USD 800 to USD
2,250.
A urther income source has been the commercialization o honey,
which has been produced rom owering trees. Total honey
production during the period 2007- 2009 amounted to USD 13,000.
Bee hives have been established in and around orest reserves, and
apiaries have been created using both indigenous and oreign tree
pecies. The honey value-chain sees local armers producing and
elling beeswax and honey-based drinks, which also supplement
incomes. Other armers are engaged in raising medicinal pl
which have both improved incomes and served as a secon
health care system or the community, saving them mone
hospital visits. Others still are engaged in livestock arming, ano
area o training provided by RARC. Where armers in the past h
dicult time nding enough odder at certain times o year or
livestock, now through the planting oAcacia and Calliandra t
they have been able to use leaves rom these trees as odder du
the dry season.
Spillover benefts rom agricultural improvements
In disseminating its model o agroorestry, RARC has been particu
successul in reaching women and youth: over 40 percent o R
members are women and over 30 percent are men under the a
35 years. This is relevant because most o the agricultural activ
in the area are traditionally handled by women. Agricul
improvements and greater arm productivity have reduced
drudgery o womens work, availed more time or other activ
(e.g. reducing the need to travel long distances to collect w
or uel), and improved their incomes. Revenues rom biodive
conservation activities have also been reinvested into school
hospitals, local inrastructure, alternative energy techno
reorestation projects, and water purication. Other socioecon
benets rom the project include improved ood security, a w
range and abundance o local ood markets in the commun
greater access to micro-nance and loans, and improvemen
population health.
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Sustainability and Replication
SUSTAINABILITY
ARC has been operating since 1995. Its members have acquired
xperiences and skills that are enabling them to scale-up
groorestry activities in the community. The Rural Resource Centre
s community owned and operated, and is used to cultivate crops
with desirable agronomic traits such as high yields, good taste, early
nd regular ructication, pest and disease resistance, and climate
esilience. The centre is the heart o the projects sustainability. It
erves as a training and demonstration centre to build and expand
ocal capacity, and is where local armers produce plant seeds, grats,
marcotts and cuttings.
Demonstration sites are owned and managed by local armers, who
se their arms to disseminate new techniques and skills to other
armers and visiting communities. Local government staf have
ven visited to learn what agroorestry techniques are proving
uccessul. As a result o demonstration arms, the adoption rate o
groorestry techniques has increased more than 50 percent at both
he household and community levels.
o urther its long term sustainability, RARC is also engaged in
primary and secondary school program, where students are
upported to visit demonstration arms and cultivate their own arms
t their respective schools. Involving children ensures the passing o
careully cultivated conservation ethic rom one generation to theext.
he key components that make the project sustainable are training
o armers in nancial management, active and direct community
articipation, established channels o awareness-raising, and wide
rganizational and partner support. Among the most critical partners
n sustaining the project are the World Agroorestry Centre (who
rovide capacity building, technical support, and nancing) and
he Grasseld Participatory and Decentralized Rural Development
roject (who provide environmental development support).
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REPLICATION
he RARC model has been shared with more than 80 communities
nd has been actively replicated in 18. Knowledge is exchanged
hrough trainings and workshops, eld days, and exchange visits
etween armer groups. The RARC model is also being promoted
y the World Agroorestry Centre, who have developed training
materials based on the RARC experience and who are providing
perational costs, plant propagation, motorbikes, and otherquipment essential or training and outreach.
PARTNERS
ARC maintains a multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary
artnership, which has evolved over time through trial and error. Key
artners to RARC include:
World Agroorestry Centre (ormerly the International Centre or
esearch in Agroorestry, or ICRAF) has aided in capacity building
xercises, and provided technical support in the orm o arming
quipment, processing machinery, a motorbike, polythene pots
sed in tree nurseries, and helped to rehabilitate the water system
sed or the tree nursery.
Heier International(2000-2003) contributed small livestock spe
including rabbits, sheep, poultry, and pigs to RARC communitie
Grassfeld Participatory and Decentralised Rural Development Pro
This rural development initiative co-unded by the Cameroo
government partnered with RARC to protect water catchment a
through growing and planting seedlings rom tree nurseries.
Netherlands Development Organization: SNV has partnered on
keeping initiatives and developing both timber and non-timorest products. They have also assisted in identiying and protec
rare and endangered species in the Bamenda highlands.
Food and Agriculture Organization: FAO has supported R
nancially to create six community nurseries and provide trainin
the production and extension o high-value tree species, especPrunus Aricana.
RARC is also in partnership with several government minis
including notably the Ministry o Agriculture and Rural Developm
The latter ministry is involved in the multiplication o impro
seeds. Traditional and administrative authorities (village heads,
councils, head o administrative units and elected mayors)
been instrumental in the implementation o local regulations
the governance o agro-pastoral activities. Traditional autho
have also been essential in the resolution o conicts.
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FURTHER REFERENCE
Riba Agroorestry Resource Centre Photo Story (Vimeo) http://vimeo.com/15752545
Pye-Smith C. 2010.A Window on a Better World. An innovative agroorestry development programme is transorming lives and landscap
rural Cameroon. ICRAF Trees or Change no. 5. Nairobi: World Agroorestry Centre. http://www.worldagroorestry.org/downloads/p
cations/PDFs/B16612.PDF
Equator Initiative
Environment and Energy GroupUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
304 East 45th Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Tel: +1 646 781 4023
www.equatorinitiative.org
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UNs global development network, advocating or change and
necting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better lie.
The Equator Initiative brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses and grassroots organizati
o recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions or people, nature and resilient communities.
2012 by Equator Initiative
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