Work

 

For the past six years Ms. Fonge has worked as a project officer in a local NGO called BERDSCO, which serves the small rural communities in the forest zone of the southwest province of Cameroon. The majority of the population in this area is engaged in agriculture. They are very poor as they farm mostly for subsistence and have limited access to the market to sell their goods. Ms. Fonge’s approach is to form farmers groups and work with them to diagnose problems they are facing, draft micro-credit projects, and give them assistance with marketing. She especially enjoys her work with the young farmers, helping them acquire new agricultural techniques that will allow them to be more self-reliant. Her training and guidance sessions take place both on the BERDSCO demonstration farm and in the fields of the farmers.

 

Ms. Fonge became interested in rural development work when an NGO started activities in her village and the people began planting good quality cassava according to their advice. “Till today they process different types of food stuff from cassava. I loved this experience very much and this motivated me to move my attention toward rural development issues. With a little help from the agricultural extension agents, farmers in rural communities can always improve productivity.”

Sending Organization

 

The Benevolent Community Education Rural Development Society (BERDSCO) opened its doors in 1990 with a mission to help those in need not through donations but by empowering them through training sessions that help develop sustainable technical skills. Nearly half of BERDSCO’s projects are related to agriculture or animal husbandry, as most of the region relies upon farming for their sole source of income. In addition to technical training, BERDSCO engages in micro-financing by providing support for projects that would not receive sponsorship through a bank. Agriculture accounts for 34% of their microfinance programs and animal husbandry makes up 10% of the borrowing groups. Currently they are setting up a fish culture system and expanding their animal husbandry curriculum, initiatives proposed by their staff member Mr. Joseph Tenjoh, 2007 graduate of ARI.