Savoir paysan et fertilité des terres au Nord-Cameroun

Abstract

Une étude par enquête auprès des paysans et par observations sur les parcelles a été menée dans quatre terroirs du Nord-Cameroun dans le but de comprendre quelles méthodes les paysans utilisent pour estimer la fertilité, c'est-à-dire la capacité des terres de leurs parcelles à produire des récoltes. Les résultats montrent que les paysans utilisent quatre groupes de critères pour déterminer le niveau de fertilité des terres : i) les mauvaises herbes présentes ; ii) l'état biophysique du sol, qui comprend la macrofaune présente, la texture et la couleur du sol ; iii) la productivité du travail ; et iv) le rendement par hectare, variable d'une culture à une autre pour une même terre. Ainsi, lorsque les paysans ont obtenu des informations sur ces quatre critères pour une même terre, ils peuvent estimer son niveau de fertilité et les cultures qui peuvent y réussir. Mots clés :Cameroun ; fertilité du sol ; productivité du travail.Thèmes : économie et développement rural ; sols ; méthodes et outils. Abstract Farmers' know-how and land fertility assessment in Northern CameroonA study based on survey among farmers and on farm observations was conducted in four selected villages of Northern Cameroon in order to understand how farmers assess the fertility of their land, i.e., the capacity of farm land to produce crops. The result shows that the farmers use four groups of criteria in order to determine the fertility level of the soil: i) the weeds present; ii) the biophysical state of the soil, which includes the macro fauna present, the texture and the colour of the soil; iii) the productivity of labour; and iv) the productivity of the land, variable from crop to crop on the same land. Once they have collected all this information for a given land, the farmers are able to assess its fertility level and on that basis choose the crops most likely to yield the best results.

Valeur pastorale, productivité et connaissances endogènes de l’effet de l’invasion, par <i>Hyptis suaveolens</i> L. Poit., des pâturages naturels en zone soudano-guinéenne (Bénin)

“…Cette espèce semble être un problème majeur pour les activités agricoles et pastorales dans le milieu d'étude. Cependant, au Nord-Cameroun, 89% des paysans ont indiqué H. suaveolens comme une plante indicatrice de la fertilité de sol (M'Biandoun et Bassala, 2007).…”

Striga infestation in northern Cameroon: Magnitude, dynamics and implications for management

“…Mentioning weeds implies labour as a constraint (Fig. 3), because in the area weeding consumes 30-60% of farmer's time spent on their agricultural operations [22]. Fig.…”

“…From a farmer perspective weeds are plants that emerge together with crops and that require labour to suppress them during early stages to allow the crops to perform, as the weeds cause low yield and grow better on more fertile soils. In their view, Striga is a symptom of poor soil fertility rather than a cause of low yields [22,24]. A major consequence of this differential conceptualization is that weeding, when mentioned by farmers, is likely interpreted by scientists as Striga management.…”

“…The demographic pressure forced many farmers to migrate (organized migration) between 1974 and 1986 from Far-North Province to North Province [22,32] where land was still available, demographic pressure lower, soils more fertile or less degraded, and rainfall slightly more favourable. On this (virgin) land Striga was still largely absent.…”

“…The role of scientists in this would be to investigate what interactions could make different possible approaches more or less likely to lead to effective improvement in farming systems income. Where labour (for weeding) is scarce, increases in yield [2,22] would improve productivity, but only if such changes do not demand large additional labour inputs. Since soil fertility decline is linked with the build-up of Striga, an approach that looks only at controlling Striga while neglecting the need for improving soil fertility would do little to restore on-farm productivity and make farming sustainable.…”