Chains of innovation by farmers in Cameroon

Samuel Toh's farm in Upper Babanki is almost 2000 m above sea level and receives about 1500 mm of rain each year between May and September. Population density is about 150 persons/km2. The "grassfields", where Bororo Fulani pastoralists keep their cattle, lie above the farming areas. In the early 1980s, Toh saw that his soils were becoming poorer and that, with population growth, there was less space for traditional long fallow to restore soil fertility. Bororo cattle grazed in the surrounding hills and he began to collect manure and transport it in jute sacks to his field. As this was strenuous work, he decided to build a fence around his field and to ask a Bororo herder to bring his cattle there each night for about a month. Afterwards he cultivated the fertilised area and the bumper crop he was able to harvest showed him that his new system worked. Over time, Toh improved his system. For example, he noticed that the animals tend to concentrate in one corner of the field and the manure was not well distributed. He subdivided the paddock, and the cattle were moved each night to different subdivisions. Toh's innovation met with extraordinary success. One plant in particular is grown regularly after manuring: black nightshade or wonderberry (Solanum nigrum). Its leaves are eaten like spinach and are highly appreciated in Northwest Cameroon and in the cities of Yaounde (Central Province), Kumba (Southwest) and Douala (Coastal). Almost all farmers in Upper Babanki (more than 500 families) have adopted the night-paddock system, and a stream of traders in "bush taxis" weave through the villages to collect the leaves and take them to the city markets. Usually, the farmers grow nightshade for two years and then maize for another two years. The cattle then return and the fields are manured again.