Cameroonian Farmer Brings Expertise Home

By Kathryn McConnell

Washington - Gwendoline Nyambi Na-ah, a native of Beba village in the North-West region of Cameroon, was inspired by the farm extension agents who came to visit her farmer parents when she was growing up.

She saw her mother, especially, participate in testing new farming techniques. She was so inspired that she decided to study agriculture so that she would be able to give her mother "knowledge she needs to manage her fields."

Today, Nyambi pursues advanced agriculture studies in the United States and plans to bring farming practices from test fields and labs to poor farmers in Cameroon.

After completing high school, Nyambi moved from Cameroon to Nigeria and applied to a university to study agriculture. She was not admitted into the agriculture department, so she chose botany as her major. She has earned a bachelor's and two master's degrees, focusing on plant pathology and crop protection.

Today, she is studying agriculture for a doctoral degree at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. She plans to teach farmers in Cameroon "to adopt technologies that ... can increase their incomes."

Nyambi is already doling out good advice. She recommends "integrated farming practices," such as mixing the cultivation of food crops with the planting of leguminous trees or letting livestock graze between crop rows to get the most use of all the land. "Diversification not only with crops production but also with other income-generating activities will go a long way to improving livelihoods," she said.

Nyambi wants to lift barriers, such as lack of property rights and access to credit, that hinder women farmers from becoming involved in community farm groups. In Cameroon, as in much of the developing world, women make up the highest proportion of farmers.

When she returns to Cameroon, Nyambi also wants to focus on conservation of natural resources such as trees and productive soils.

"My country has a diverse and rich ecosystem structure endowed with natural resources. But conservation practices have to be in place to maintain it," she said. "I want [youth] to be aware of their environment and take part in managing it sustainably because their future depends on it."

Source: U.S. Department of State