The impact of small ruminant funded projects on the socio-economic development of the producers: Case of some selected common initiative groups in the Far North Region, Cameroon

Abstract

Cameroon has enormous potentials for small ruminant production which are still largely underexploited. The Far North Region harbors about 3/4 of the total population of small ruminants (goat and sheep) in the country. Above 80% of the region’s population is involved in livestock rearing. Despite these potentials, the sustained challenges in the sector have been attributed to low investment in the sector. Production rate is low and does not meet up with the meat demands of an ever increasing population. To resolve this problem a number of projects have been put in place by the government and non- governmental organizations (NGOs) to work through the intermediary of common initiative groups to boost the production of livestock especially that of small ruminants. This work was carried out to examine how two of such livestock projects funded by two NGOs, Heifer International Project Cameroon (HPIC) and Comité Diocésain de Dévelopement (CDD) in the Far North Region were managed and its effects on the quality of life of the producers. A case study was carried out on 200 producers organized in 17 common initiative groups. The result of the survey was analyzed using SPSS 20.0 English Version and the hypotheses tested using the Spearman’s Rank Correlation. The results obtained from the field revealed that 90, 97.5, and 98% of the producers witnessed an increase in livestock production, revenue and satisfaction of social needs after assistance respectively. It is concluded that the proper management of small ruminant livestock projects through the intermediary of common initiative groups has a significant and positive impact on the quantity of livestock production and socio-economic development of producers. Other projects aimed at increasing livestock production could follow the management styles of HPIC and CDD