This was during a two-day Annual Review and Planning Meeting held in Buea from the February 16 to 17, 2018. The meeting was aimed at accessing the results and achievements in the implementation of the Trees for the Future programme in 2017.
While schooling the technicians, the Director of Livelihoods and Economic Development (LED), at the Enviornment and Rural Development Foundation (ERuDeF), Junie Chamdjou, indicated that the CoCoSED model is a modern prototype for providing a sustainable alternative source of livelihoods to communities adjacent to protected areas. She indicated that the model integrates the community to the protected area in the management and conservation.
“With the CoCoSED Model your household is financially equipped, your community benefits heftily, and the protected area also survives. The concept provides a long-term financial and economic benefit to everyone across the board,” Junie explained
In that light, the technicians were advised to mobilise themselves into cooperatives. This, according to the facilitator, will enable the technicians (who more or less have one common production chain), to benefit extensively from the CoCoSED Model. The technicians planned to invest in the Avocado and Neem production.
This annual meeting was organised by the Department of Agroforestry and Agricultural Development (DAgFAD) at ERuDeF with financial support from Trees for the future.
By Elong Ntungwa
