BETTER WORLD - BAFUT MUNICIPAL COUNCIL PARTNERSHIP ON CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION & MITIGATION

FOOD:

Cameroon is on the threshold of the food security era. The Mayor of Bafut Council and Better World Cameroon NGO are leading the way to linking food production to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Valuable information on foods that are our daily bread in our households in Cameroon, particularly in rural Bafut.
As rural farmers, we consume foods made from flours of maize, millet and
sorghum every day. We eat it with local green vegetables, which are considered
weeds, yet we cultivate them; our local spices included.
We grow our own local
maize, rice and beans  varieties for food
and we purchase no hybrid seeds for commercial production.
We have other food crops, such as pumpkins, sweet potatoes
yams, coco yams and cassava which are all part of our diets and foods for lean
seasons. We practice traditional food preservation methods.
We hear of research work on some of these crops but due to our distances to
such centers nobody brings them to us. If we were to rely on science alone and
wait for these technologies to come to us we would be dead.

Our worry is scrupulous traders who are selling unknown seeds and chemicals to well off farmers that might contaminate our own foods.

The Mayor  of Bafut Municipal Council, Langsi Abel  backs agricultural strategies in Africa that open new markets for the benefit of foreign agribusiness through the establishment of agribusiness value chains and favorable policies for peace and sustainable development.For this reason the partnership with Better Word Cameroon has set up BUSINESS COUNCIL FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CAMEROON (BCSD);

CONTACT:  foundation@betterworld-cameroon.com

See photos below

[Bafut Municipal Council - Better World Cameroon Food Sovereignty Programme]to salvage Cameroon’s food riots.

 The recent food violence in Cameroon was just the latest manifestation of the crippling shortcomings of the global economy. The Cameroon's
food riots demonstrated the true face of global warming.
The last summer has been a summer of record temperatures throughout the world– Japan had its hottest summer on record, as did
South Florida and New York.
Meanwhile,
Pakistan and Niger were flooded and the eastern US is still mopping up after
hurricane Earl. None of these individual events can definitively be
attributed to global warming. But to see how climate change will play
out in the 21st century, you needn't look only to the Bafut Mini
Agricultural show. Look,
instead, to the deaths and burning tyres in some African cities related to
"food riots"
to see what happens when extreme natural phenomena interact with our
unjust economic systems.
There is indication that the prices of oil, wheat, corn and
rice will continue to rise on international markets – corn prices will almost
triple. In the process, food-importing countries are likely to experience more food
riots.

Continuous hikes in oil prices mean higher transport costs and fossil fuel-based fertilizer prices.
Biofuel policies are shifting land and crops from food into ethanol production,
diverting food from stomachs to fuel tanks. Longer term trends in population
growth and meat consumption in
Cameroon will add to the stress.

Bafut Agric Show 2010 stands out against genetically modified (GM) mono-crops that are threatening to displace our rural populations and cause further
environmental devastation.

Memorandum of Understanding

 What does Connecting Cameroon BWC Permaculture Lectures with Bafut Council offer?

·         The opportunity to work in partnership  on collaborative sustainable development projects which enable rural development actors to interact across geographical
boundaries - enhancing their understanding of each other’s societies, languages
and cultures, and preparing them for life and work in a global society.

·         Professional development for teachers and youth entrepreneurship, which builds capacity to integrate an international dimension
in agricultural training curriculum, support international solidarity and work
in an international environment. Our Vision is well organized for
impact, and Building Understanding through International Links for Development will Advice on Eligibility for International
Partnerships and accreditation which recognises Bafut’s commitment to Linking
Schools and communities in the  municipality
youth entrepreneurship community or school’s commitment to forming
international partnerships in sustainable agriculture and developing global
citizens among the youth.

·         We appeal to International Sustainable Development Organizations for orientation and support in forming partnerships for Distance Learning, the use of ICT tools that
develop and sustain partnerships, including the creation of an online teacher
forum.

Cameroon and the West & Central Africa region offer a great variety of cultures and traditions, some of them little understood or even known in the international Community. Connecting Cameroon
and will provide a platform for young people and educators in the international
community to gain real and first-hand knowledge of vibrant and diverse cultures
and to challenge any misunderstandings and pre-conceptions about sustainable
development in Africa.

THE BAFUT CULTURAL JAMBOREE

www;betterworld-cameroon.com