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Wakaltou, North Cameroon

IPA-project as a blueprint

In 2022, working under enormous time pressure, a school class at Enge high school managed to save 25 children in Wakaltou from starvation. Afterwards they focused their efforts on the future of the whole village.

The fight against the acute malnutrition was only the beginning. Another six projects were meant to guarantee permanent food security for 1,700 people – biologically and environmentally sustainable. It was an enormous task for a project work class that was expected to be carried out within half a year – fundraising included. But what had at first seemed almost impossible, finally turned into reality. More than CHF 136,000 could be spent on the completion of the venture. The local IPA partner in Wakaltou could now start his work systematically. A team of 15 specialists was formed and sent to the village where they worked closely together with the beneficiaries. Test fields were set aside to cultivate rice, sorghum and vegetables. The 102 members of the farmers' association were told about the climate change and how they could till their fields in an environmentally friendly way in future.

Everything seemed fine and promising when enormous water masses coming down the river Chari from the Central African Republic flooded the region. In November 2022 the situation was out of control. The region was cut off from the environment and the fields were dangerously drowned. Crop losses were feared and the cultivation of rice was literally about to sink. But then a dam which was supposed to protect the national road broke and this saved the fields in Wakaltou. The water drained off and the losses were much smaller than expected. In January 127.7 tons of rice were harvested. The relief was tremendous, the famine had been averted.

A lifetime dream: sugared tea

The students in Zurich had meanwhile launched into the other projects with enthusiasm. A storehouse was built, fruit trees were planted and the farmers were taught how to breed and keep poultry, sheep and goats in a species-appropriate way. The animals are not only important because of the milk and the meat. They are a kind of "living piggy bank", a guarantee for survival in hard times. Unfortunately the degree of capacity utilisation of the storehouse was a bit disappointing. In Sao, only 15 miles away, the villagers had virtually filled their IPA storehouse to overflowing, but in Wakaltou only few families made use of the new offer, at least at the beginning. They simply prefer to keep their harvest at home. Different ethnic groups, different mentalities. Nevertheless the project is a success in all ranks – and moving if you consider the way in which an old man thanked the IPA partner. "It has always been one of my lifetime dreams to have enough money to buy sugar for my tea", he said. "Now this dream has come true – before I die. C'est fait. Merci à vous!" The deputy prefect declared that everybody who wanted to realise an agricultural project in his area of responsibility had to act according to the IPA procedure model. And the local partner was respected and even admired everywhere for his prudent and careful work. "Que Dieu Tout Puissant vous bénisse", people call out to him. "You have made a hero out of me", he laughs out loudly.

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