Analyse de la culture maraîchere dans le bassin de production rizicole de Yagoua (extreme-nord Cameroun)

Abstract

Market gardening is a major activity growing more and more in rural areas; the commune of Yagoua is not left out.The practice of market gardening has promoted satisfactory agricultural performance in many forms. The induced effects of these agricultural transformations can constitute an opportunity to improve the livelihoods of all populations. However, for decades, the Far North has been prey to food insecurity. This study aims to study the practice of market gardening in the Yagoua rice-growing basin. To properly conduct this study, we adopted the hypothetic-deductive approach which is based on the formulation of hypotheses and their verification in the field through the collection of data from primary sources and secondary sources. Thus, the survey questionnaires were administered to 100 market farmers spread across 8 villages/districts. Interviews were carried out with 10 local resource people (village chiefs, former market gardeners disabled by age, authorities responsible for agriculture in the said locality, etc.). The results show that the practice of market gardening in the rice basin includes women as well as men with a respective percentage of 20.7% and 79.3%, however women are involved in this activity more than men. This activity still remains an essential source of income for the farmer, which makes it a main activity during the dry season and a secondary one during the raining season. It increases the resilience of farmers to the combined phenomena of climatic and non-climatic risks, which is why market gardeners practice it for purely economic reasons. Furthermore, the complementarity between this activity and rice is perceptible at various levels: at the level of practice, marketing and at the level of consumption. But they are a certain number of risks constraining the practice and development of this activity. This study provides the necessary guidelines allowing social groups practicing market gardening to improve the practice of their activity and to the organizations which support them to provide technical support to revitalize this sector through the creation of permanent wells, the development of sites market gardeners, facilitates access to inputs, credits and markets