ICAR Research Data Repository for Knowledge Management
Training with draught animals
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View Archive Info| Field | Value | |
| Title |
Training with draught animals
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| Creator |
Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
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| Description |
A new agreement has been signed between the government of Cameroon and the West German Agency for Technical Co-operation, to extend the 'Wum area oxen farming project' in the mountainous northwest of Cameroon The project was set up in 1976 to offer a number of services to peasant farmers, including a two-month training course in the use and maintenance of draught animals. Most of the trainees are women. In some parts of Cameroon, women grow 80 % of food crops, using hand hoes and other traditional tools. But now their lives are being transformed by the use of oxen for ploughing and for other farm work such as harrowing, raking, mulching and transport. Participants must have access to at least 1.5 hectares (3.7 acres) of suitable land. Preference is given to families, and women's groups which can send at least four members to be trained. There are now 34 women's groups participating in the scheme. At the start of each training session, every farmer or group is given a pair of oxen and taught how to train and look after them. Vegetable gardening, mixed cropping and basic farming management are taught not from books, but by means of field work or practical demonstration. After training, each farmer signs a credit agreement for the equivalent of about US$250, which pays for oxen, farming equipment, fertilizer and seeds. The loan is repayed with farm produce over a period of five years. Project staff visit their students regularly to assist and advise. The oxen make it possible to bring more land under the plough, increasing the amount of crops that can be grown in a year. In many parts of the Wum area, wheat, rice and soybeans are now cultivated in addition to such traditional crops as groundnuts and maize. Bananas, plaintains, cassava and yams are also grown and rotated with fodder crops and legumes to maintain the fertility of the soil. Mixed farming of this kind means that even small farms can be made viable, and also helps to ensure an adequate long-term food supply. For further information con tact: Earthscan 3, Endsleigh Street LONDON WC 1 ODD United Kinqdom A new agreement has been signed between the government of Cameroon and the West German Agency for Technical Co-operation, to extend the 'Wum area oxen farming project' in the mountainous northwest of Cameroon The project was set up in 1976 to offer... |
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| Date |
1986
2014-10-02T13:13:06Z 2014-10-02T13:13:06Z |
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News Item
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| Identifier |
CTA. 1986. Training with draught animals. Spore 2. CTA, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
1011-0054 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/44450 |
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| Language |
en
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| Relation |
Spore
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| Rights |
Open Access
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| Publisher |
Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
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| Source |
Spore
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