- There will be the use of classical media which will involve radio especially community radios, Television as well as written press that is newspapers.
- We will use social media WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to share information, pictures, videos and short messages on the project.
- We will have banners, roll ups, T- shirts and other gadget that can create awareness and visibility of the project.
- We will brand some products produced by the project so as to give visibility to our project.
The Socio-economic aspect of the project will consist of training women, girls and youths on the creation of businesses through the valorization of Non Timber Forest Products for sale. They will be trained on branding and packaging of these local products that can open them access to national and even international markets. There will be a tree planting exercise and agroforestry where fruit trees will be planted. The fruits from the trees will be sold in the local markets for income generation and financial autonomy. These fruits will be consumed by the Indigenous peoples to fight against malnutrition.
Capacity - Building Component
The grantee will need to strength its institutional capacity given that we have a team of young people on board in the organization whose capacities need to be built and strengthened. Consequently, we intend to organize capacity building workshops for our staff on project implementation and activities, report writing, financial management.
Significant Participation of Indigenous Peoples
The principal beneficiaries of the project are the Bagyelis Indigenous Peoples of the Kribi area. They will include men, women, youths and persons with disabilities. The project will be carried out using the local Bagyeli language in the communities. There will be local focal points of the project who will be from the Bagyeli community. They will translate communications and information from experts from French to the local languages. We will partner with some Associations that community based so as to facilitate communication and understanding of training content during trainings. Audios and videos will be produce for dissemination in local languages with sub tittles in English and French.
Inovative Financial Mechanisms
The project has a knowledge management strategy which will deal with capitalization of experience. The knowledge and experiences will be captured in videos, pictures, interviews, and focus group discussions. They will be shared with the beneficiary community and other communication platforms mentioned above like the classical and social media. At the end of the project knowledge the experiences will be shared to other organizations.
There will be capitalization of experience workshops in the communities where all the lessons, impact, challenges will be captured and the project handed over to the community for continuity and sustainability to ensure that the end of the funding cycle does not put an end to the project.
Policy Impact
This project will produce policy impact in the sense that it is accompanying and implementing the various global and national policies on climate change and biodiversity conservation. Much talk has been happening at global and national levels. It?s time for action. There is need for us to start implementing concrete activities that can help us in adaptation and mitigation to climate change as well as reduce Green House Gas emissions. The intended result here is that we will be moving from policy to action and this may inspire others to do same and it will help the policy makers to have a paradigm shift. Planting of tree will help sequestrate carbon, regulate our climate, ensure water security,
Moreover, alongside science an innovation on climate solutions, the world is exploring a possibility of climate solutions through traditional knowledge. That is why the Paris Agreement of 2015 created the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPP) for sharing of traditional knowledge and exploring climate solutions through traditional and indigenous knowledge. Our project will be focused on climate solutions through Indigenous knowledge and intergenerational knowledge transfer for preservation of our knowledge.
Gender Focus
Women in the community take care of the home and the children, they carry out activities like gathering and providing food for the family. They are responsible for the education of the children and the transmission of traditional knowledge, culture and values. Women in the Bagyeli community still suffer discrimination and marginalization. They are still marginalized when it comes to decision making and community life. Our project intends to address this imbalance in decision making by empowering the women to be involved in their community development life, decision making in their homes and to be educated on their rights. The women are the principal beneficiaries of the project but in order to address gender gaps and ensure good advocacy on this, we are involving the men so that they can help us bring on board their wives and daughters in decision making processes and make then key actors in community development.
Notable Community Participation
Youth will be one of the principal beneficiaries of the project. They will equally serve as actor in the project. They will be trained; they will be equipped with skills on various thematic issues such as climate change, the use of traditional knowledge for climate adaptation, tree planting and agroforestry etc. They will equally gain entrepreneurial skills on developing businesses and branding of their local products. They will use these skills for financial autonomy
Project Results
* Capacity building workshop on climate change adaptation and mitigation
The capacity building workshop on climate change adaptation and mitigation took place took place in Ndtoua, Ocean Division. The aim of this activity was to raise awreness on climate change change issues and educate the Bagyeli Indigenous Peoples on some adaptation and mitigation strategies. About 89 Indigenous Bagyelis that is 30 women, 29 men, 28youths and 02 persons with disabilities gained knowledge on climate change adaption and mitigation. They are now using these strategies to cope with climate change effects and they are now adapting to livelihoods that are favourable to the environment. They are also teaching their children their traditional Indigenous livelihoods that favour low carbon missions.
* Training workshop on Community Based Monitoring and Information Systems(CBMIS) and traditional knowledge on climate issues.
The Workshop on community based monitoring and Information System took place in Bidou Village in the Lokoundje Subdivision of the Ocean Division. This workshop trained about 104 Bagyelis including 40 women 32 youths, 27 men and 05 persons with disabilities on community monitoring indicators to tract changes happening in the environment, weather and climate changes. This was to put in place local early warning systems so as to better prepare for resilience in case of climate crisis or disasters related to climate change.
This activity valourized the indigenous knowledge of the Bagyelis. They developed some common weather monitoring indicators (such as appearance of certain insects, plant species, disappearance of others, reading the weather using directions, the sun and the stars etc) that can help then easily tract changes in the environment and determine what the weather and climate will look like in the days ahead so as to better plan their activities on hunting, gathering fishing and agriculture.
* Tree planting exercise
A tree planting exercise was carried out in Ndtoua Village with about 60 Bagyeli youths, women and men. The Bagyelis of Ndtoua were trained on how to nurse trees and a nursery of about 300 trees was created. This exercise helped to understand materials they can use, the recycling of some plastic materials for use in the nursery as well as the importance of natural manure. They equally learnt how to care for a tree nursery to ensure that trees nursed should grow.
Trees are very important for the environment as they help to regulate the climate, sequestrates carbon and ensure water security. This is in line with SDG 13 on climate action. Tree planting are good for environmental protection and contribute in the fight against climate change in sequestrating Green House Gases and regulating our climate. This activity encourages reforestation and reduces the effects of illegal logging in the community.
These trees will equally provide the Bagyeli Indigenous peoples some crops like the bush mango and cocoa that they can sell to generate income for financial autonomy.
* Agriculture (Community farms)
With the advent of climate change, food security is threatened. Indigenous Bagyelis being hunter gatherers and fisher folks are seriously affected when it comes to food as a result of climate change. This is because food has reduced in the forest and waters are drying off making fish scarce. About 35 women and youths were trained on agriculture and its importance in the face of climate change. A site was chosen and cleared and prepared for planting of different types of crops like maize, groundnuts, beans, soya beans, cassava, sweet potatoes etc. These crops will help to fight malnutrition in children and ensure food security. This is in line with SDG 2 ending hunger. This community farm was carried out on a surface area of One hectare. This will serve as a pilot farm for the youths and women to practice agriculture and then replicate it in their individual farms. They are trained to carry out agriculture without using chemicals that can destroy the environment or the quality of the crops and cause health hazards. They practice traditional agriculture with natural manure and fertilizers. This will maintain soil fertility and quality and prevent land degradation.
Apart from being consumed in their homes, the food crops can be sold by the Indigenous Peoples to generate income.
* Agroforestry
Due to illegal logging activities in the forest and in order to combat this problem, IPSD embarked on agroforestry with the aim of planting fruit trees in the forest and some trees that give crops that can be eaten and sold like the Bush mango and cocoa. A nursery of about 150 fruit trees was opened in Bandevouri with about 30 youths. They were trained on how to identify good seedlings and how to nurse them.
These trees will sequestrate carbon, regulate the environment, fight against illegal logging and deforestation and ensure fruit security. These fruits can be sold in local markets for financial autonomy. The bush mango is a Non-Timber Forest Product that is of high value and it will be commercialized by Bagyelis.
The trees from the nursery will be planted in the forest on a one-hectare space. This is in line with SDG 13 on climate action as the trees will protect the environment, regulate the climate, sequestrate carbon and SDG 1 ending poverty as the fruits will not only be eaten but will be sold for financial security.
*Intergenerational dialogue on transmission of traditional knowledge on climate and other environmental practices.
An intergenerational dialogue on the transmission of traditional and indigenous knowledge on climate issues and environmental protection took place in Ndtoua with about 60 knowledge holders, youths and elderly men and women. The youths now have a mastery of traditional knowledge and practices that are used in the community to fight against climate change, protect the environment and waters. This indigenous knowledge is key in the fight against climate change as the world leaders are working on integrating indigenous knowledge into climate change adaptation and mitigation policies and actions. This is another way of valourizing and preserving indigenous knowledge for continuity and use by future generations since indigenous traditions are mostly oral.
This activity is beneficial to the environment as it encourages traditional livelihoods, ways of life, cultural and spiritual values that protect the environment and leave no carbon emission foot prints.
* Celebration of the International Day of Indigenous Peoples
The International Day of World?s Indigenous Peoples was celebrated in August in Bandevouri Village in the Lokoundje Sub Division and it was presided over by the Sub Divisional Offer for the Lokoundje Sub Division in the presence of the representative of the Regional Delegate of Social affairs and some traditional leaders. This celebration brought together about 180 Indigenous Bagyeli Peoples from five villages in the Kribi area. The objective of this celebration was to sensitize and educate Indigenous Peoples on their rights with specific attention on access to citizenship. The Indigenous peoples were schooled on access to citizenship and the importance of birth certificates and other civil status documents.
The theme of the 2023 edition was « Youth as agents of change for self-determination ». The Bagyeli women used this opportunity to channel their problems to the representatives of the government. Among the challenges highlighted, land and human rights violations, discrimination and lack of basic social amenities were glaring. It was also an opportunity to showcase their culture, traditions, dance, songs and medicines. Some of them made money out of sales of some forest products.
* Training on business creation and management for NTFP
The Bagyeli Indigenous Peoples were trained on business creation and management through the Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP). Since the NTFP are available in their community and some communities use the bush mango in cooking, the Bagyelis were trained on how to build businesses around their NTFP such as the bush mango, njangsa, mushrooms etc that they gather in the forest and sell for financial autonomy. The women are now harvesting, processing and selling the bush mango. Others are planting the bush mango so that they can always have what to sell in future. This has helped them to be contributing in taking care of their households and this has reduced gender-based violence in the community. This is in line with SDG 1 ending poverty. This is because the Bagyeli Indigenous People will be able to carry out businesses that can fetch them income and reduce poverty level in the community.
This activity is beneficial to the environment as the Bagyelis have invested in plant some trees like the bush mango and cocoa which will not only provide them with crops to eat and sell but the tree will protect the environment, regulate the climate and contribute in the fight against climate change.
* Training on Conservation, packaging and branding of NTFP
Given that the Bagyeli community have been trained on business creation and management, they are working on valourizing the bush mango and other Non-Timber Forest Products needed in the Indigenous Peoples community and outside the community. The Bagyelis were trained on the importance of branding and good packaging of their products. They were trained on how to come up with brand names that valourize them as indigenous communities and their identity as peoples.
They were also drilled on the importance of using biodegradable and natural packaging since it is environmentally friendly and will help fight against plastic pollution of the environment and waters.
Branding and good packaging of their products will give the products attractiveness and visibility in the markets and they can sell at high value and make good income. This can sell these products in international markets as well.
Capacity building
During our work on the field in Ndtoua village, we identified a Bagyeli Youth association that was founded by some 12 youths in the village. They have been holding meetings, carrying out solidarity actions. They have been discussing development plans as well. IPSD decided to strengthen their leadership and institutional capacities. A meeting was organized with the youths to structure them, educate them on the importance of being a legalized association under the Cameroonian law on associations of 1990 as well as work with them to walk them through the process so that they can be legalized. The meeting also aimed at strengthening the leadership capacities of these youths and to ensure gender equally in the group. This association will continue working for the progress and development of the Ndtoua community.
The association has gained leadership skills that they can use to lead their organization and community for progress and development. They are able to identify their development priorities and work to address some of them.
