Two years, four training fields, a new generation of young farmers: following the "Farmer Field Schools" approach we shared agroecological methods in western Cameroon — for higher yields, lower costs and a healthier living environment.
In the highlands of western Cameroon, many smallholder families depend on a single farming method — often with high input costs, poor soil fertility and growing dependence on imports. Hunger and malnutrition are the direct result.
With local partners we set up a training programme in 2022. The goal: pass on agroecological methods to young farmers — using real fields, measurable results and decisions made by the participants themselves.
The "Farmer Field Schools" (FFS) approach has been proven since the 1980s. Instead of theoretical workshops, farmers train through an entire growing season on a shared field, experimenting, comparing methods and making their own decisions at the end.
After completion in 2023, the trained young farmers run the training fields themselves and pass the knowledge to new participants. First follow-up groups started in 2024 — without any further funding from us.
That's "help towards self-help" in its purest form: we brought the tools. The community keeps building.
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