Plants and people in Cameroun that make a difference

Tithonia and knowledge on its use make biofertilisers and fungicides available to small-scale farmers in Cameroun

Aline Mafokeng, now in her thirties, is a farmer from the West Cameroon region who has adopted the various uses of the plant Tithonia on her farm. Thithonia diversifolia, also known as Mexican Sunflower, is a flowering plant valued for its many benefits and applications in the production of organic pesticides and fertilisers. Aline, an agroecological farming enthusiast, has benefited from trainings and awareness-raising sessions run by Nguimtsop Yannick, a master trainer supervised by the “Centre Polyvalent de Formation” (CPF) in Mbouo, Cameroun. The farmer shared, “Before, I used pesticides to treat attacks on my plants, but Mr Nguimtsop taught us how to use Tithonia. I’ve tried it and it works,” she says with conviction.

In addition to its role as a fungicide, Tithonian based slurry (a mixture of manure, the plant extract and water) also enables farmers to fertilise their field.

“Tithonia is available in large quantities in our village, but we didn’t know how useful it was. With the skills we learned at the training course, Tithonia is saving us money on fertilisers and pesticides,” admits the farmer and multiplier.

The training course on the uses of Tithonia was organised for the multipliers of Knowledge Hub in Central Africa (KHCA). After the training, in which she saw the benefits of Tithonia, Alineshowed her drive and determination and has since mentoring groups of producers in her region. So far, the multiplier has trained around fifteen farmers in the use of Tithonia and more growers have already expressed the interest in learning how to use the plant.

Besides being ready to continue sharing this knowledge, Aline reported that thanks to Tithonia, she no longer has attacks in her potato field. She regularly sprays the mix of the plant on her crops as a preventive measure and because of the positive results she is already planning to start growing tomatoes again in the next crop year – expanding the possibilities for her farm, production, and community.

Author: KCOA Editor