Success Story: Increasing Yields, Reducing Pesticides
Forty-two year old Mr. Mathias Evouna is a farmer from Nlonboni village in southern Cameroon. In 1995, following the death of his father, he left his undergraduate studies at the University of Yaoundé and returned to his village. He began a new 7 hectare cocoa farm of his own and continued to maintain the 45 year old, one hectare farm he inherited from his father.
In the 2004-2005 cropping season, Mr. Evouna heard of an STCP Farmer Field School (FFS) in the village of Mfida, 15 km from his home, where cocoa farmers were being trained in farm management practices such as pruning, shade management, chupon removal and sanitary harvesting. Mr. Evouna rode his motorbike to Mfida and enrolled in the FFS. He decided to test the new techniques he was learning on the land he inherited to see if he could achieve the same results he observed on the FFS demonstration plot. At the end of the season, he realized that his one hectare test plot accounted for approximately one third of his total yield despite using less fungicides and pesticides.
Pleased with the results, Mr. Evouna applied the new techniques to his entire farm for the 2005-2006 season. Although, his new approach requires some additional work, Mr. Evouna is convinced of the economic benefits. His neighbors are impressed with the tidiness and aeration of Mr. Evouna’s farm. Inspired by his achievement, they contacted their local farmer cooperative to request a FFS in Nlonboni for the next season.
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