James Gockowski

African Traditional Leafy Vegetables and the Urban and Peri-Urban Poor

Abstract The importance of traditional leafy vegetables (TLVs) in nutrition and employment both in production and marketing among urban and peri-urban households was investigated. An expenditure model of demand using results from a 1998 survey ( n =150) in Yaounde, Cameroon estimated that as a group TLVs were normal goods, which contribute a significant share of essential nutrients for the urban poor. Urban consumption of Brassica exotics, which have replaced TLVs in other parts of Africa, was minimal. Price analysis revealed a decline in supply during the dry season, which is a food security concern for the very poor. Field and market surveys conducted in 1998 and 1997 estimated that over 32000 households were engaged in producing and marketing TLVs under readily accessible entry conditions. Three production styles were identified: an intensive system within the urban limits, a semi intensive style in the urban periphery and an extensive style also in the urban periphery. The largest number of producers were women employing an extensive mixed crop system. Successful in situ conservation will require research to improve the productivity of TLV cropping systems and media efforts to promote their use.

An Empirical Analysis of the Biodiversity and Economic Returns to Cocoa Agroforests in Southern Cameroon

Arguing that agroforestry associations are important for biodiversity conservation, certification schemes are seeking to differentiate commodities on the basis of the biodiversity included in the cropping system, in order to financially encourage more “wildlife friendly” production systems through market mechanisms. However, biologists and economists have begun to question the overall impact on biodiversity and poverty when relatively extensive “wildlife friendly” agroforestry systems are encouraged in lieu of more intensified systems. Field inventories were taken of the plants utilized from 67 ha of cocoa agroforests (CAFs) in southern Cameroon among 46 households. Two hundred eighty-six plant species were utilized as foods, medicinal plants, timber, and service products. From interviews with household members it was revealed that non-cocoa revenues accounted for one quarter of total CAF revenues. Per capita revenues from the CAF were positively skewed and exceeded the poverty line for 29% of the sampled population. Monetary returns from the CAF increased with increasing agricultural intensification and market access. The findings suggest that intensified use of cocoa fungicides, improved market institutions, and expansion of the CAF area cultivated per household would reduce rural poverty in southern Cameroon. Overall, the plant diversity of CAFs degraded slightly as intensification proceeded.

Improving the productivity and income of Ghanaian cocoa farmers while maintaining environmental services: what role for certification?

Ghana, as the second largest global producer of cocoa, is strategically positioned on the world market. Consumer concerns over ethical and environmental issues associated with cocoa production are a potential threat to its position. These concerns have given rise to certification. Certification dictates the way cocoa can be produced and consequently affects producers’ incomes and environmental services. The expected profitability, yield, and environmental impact of Rainforest Alliance certified shade-grown cocoa production (RA-Cocoa) is estimated and compared to an extensive shaded production system (Ext-Cocoa) and an intensified full sun production system (High-Tech). Ext-Cocoa represents most cocoa production systems in Ghana, while High-Tech is promoted by the government as a tool for attaining its target output of 1 million tons. Under the baseline assumptions High-Tech was the most profitable; RA-Cocoa generated positive returns, while Ext-cocoa was a break even proposition. Simulation of different policy scenarios did not affect the rank order of the baseline outcome. The Ext-Cocoa yield was 28% of the RA-Cocoa yield, which was 78% of the High-Tech yield. The environmental services maintained at the plot level of RA-Cocoa production system are greater than those of the High-Tech production system. However, the 228,000 ha of additional forest land required to produce 1 million tons with RA-Cocoa questions which system would impact environmental services the least.

Ecoregional research in Africa: learning lessons from IITA's Benchmark Area Approach

SUMMARY Ecoregional research has the potential to help address some of the huge challenges facing agriculture in developing countries by developing technologies that work under different agro-ecological conditions, and the processes by which these technologies can be adapted to work in other areas with similar conditions. The CGIAR system has been developing ecoregional research as a new paradigm for over a decade. In this paper we evaluate one of the most ambitious of these initiatives called the Benchmark Area Approach (BAA) pioneered by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture. We evaluate the BAA against nine good practice criteria for ecoregional research and finding that the approach is delivering, or has the potential to deliver, on all nine. Many of the lessons learnt from this evaluation will be relevant to current and future attempts to undertake co-ordinated multi-locational research for development.

Groundnut, maize and cassava yields in mixed-food crop fields after Calliandra tree fallow in southern Cameroon

Shortened fallow periods lead to a decline in crop yields in traditional mixed-food crop fields in southern Cameroon. Farmers use no inputs such as fertilizers for crop production in these field types. Planted fallows with adapted tree species might sustain or increase crop production under those conditions, as found in other parts of Africa. Two-year-old calliandra three fallows, with trees planted in alleys, clusters, equidistantly or around plot borders, were compared with two- and four to five-year-old natural fallows for their effect on groundnut, maize and cassava yields on eighteen farmer fields in southern Cameroon. Trial fields covered a wide range of soil and environmental conditions. The tree fallows had no significant effects on the yields of maize and cassava with the exception of the border planting, in which trees were not rigorously pruned back prior to cropping. Here, cassava tuber yields were reduced. Cassava tuber yields declined generally with decreasing planting distance to trees. The yield of groundnut, the most important crop in this field type, wa.s adversely affected. However, maize graft yields were positively related to biomass produced by calliandra trees, notably on soils with pH seer about 5.3. The data indicated that yields of all crops could be increased with higher plant densities, irrespective of fallow type. The tree fallows, with the exception of border planting, showed less adaptability than four to five-year-old natural fallows to sites with low crop yields, whereas no difference compared with hvo-year-ald natural hallows was found.

Urban Farming Systems in Yaoundé – Building a Mosaic

Urban agriculture is prevalent in Cameroon, the first country examined in this book of case studies, yet its role in urban life was little studied until the 1990s. At that time researchers began to look at some aspects of this complex phenomenon, such as the role of traditional leafy vegetables in the diet and incomes of the urban poor (Gockowski & Ndoumbe 1999). Following their attendance at a regional stakeholder meeting organized by Urban Harvest in late 2000, scientists from different institutions came together in 2001 to move forward work they were pursuing independently on different topics related to urban agriculture in Yaounde. This interdisciplinary collaboration produced the original empirical studies contained in this chapter and the two that follow, which aim at a deeper understanding of some of the complexities of urban farming in the country and indicate directions for further work, both in research and the development of public policy.