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WFP & Nascent Partner for Refugees in Cameroon

The WFP and Nascent project to assist Central African Republic refugees and their hosts attain self-sufficient lives got underway in November 2013 in Cameroon’s eastern region, with early deliveries of implements for the development of pasture and farmland.

The project covered pasture development via the removal of invasive grass species, beneficial tree and shrub planting and the establishment of pasture barriers, as well as livestock and agriculture training, and took its first steps with the delivery of urgently needed tools.

Nascent and WFP staff made the long drive through poor roads, to reach the inaccessible Kette district and four of the project’s target communities: Bedobo, Boubara, Gbiti and Timangolo. Project staffers were received by local administrators and over 100 participating refugees and their hosts in each of the four project locations. Initial deliveries of over 1500 tools, including; hoes, wheelbarrows, machetes, rakes and other essential implements were effected. The participants expressed excitement and gratitude at receiving these simple but badly needed tools as well as an eagerness to begin phase two of the project. However the deliveries still fell short of the necessary objectives due to a larger than expected number of project participants in the visited districts.

With the initial implement and tool delivery complete, groundwork began to further coordinate efforts with local administrators, refugees and hosts to effectively begin pasture development with land clearing, invasive specie removal, tree planting, construction of water points and fences. Once the final tool deliveries were complete, the second phase comprising training, clearing and planting phase effectively began, but was limited by a lack of resources.