Urban Food Plus: Field Research in Bamenda, Cameroon

IEE Members report about the field survey taken among urban farmers.

The IEE’s contribution to the five-year research project - Urban Food Plus - is the evaluation of the economic implications of agricultural innovations on urban farmers and consumers, focusing on biochar as a soil amendment, and improved irrigation technology. In the past months, we completed several research tasks in the West African cities of Tamale (Ghana) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), as well as in Bamenda (Cameroon). In the beginning of next year, we plan to expand our research to Bamako (Mali).

After the first exploratory trip to Bamenda last year, IEE research fellows Dr. Tobias Thürer and Nicole Dittrich, as well as Steffen Werner (RUB Geography) and RUB students Henrike Roth (Economics) and Marina Schauerte (Geography) continued the previous research done in Cameroon by conducting a productivity survey among urban farmers in Bamenda.

(on the photo above: IEE research fellows, RUB students and project partners from the Shumas Center in Bamenda, photo: Dittrich)

The study replicated the almost complete study of PhD student, Lesley Hope, that took place in Tamale und Ouagadougou. The main aim of this research is to investigate whether biochar as a soil amendment has the potential to increase productivity in an urban setting. Together with two local assistants from Bamenda, field research was conducted from June to August 2017.

Urban market in Bamenda (photo: Dittrich)

After an intensive pre-test and sampling revision, the two Master’s students started with the field survey. While Marina took soil samples at the random sampled plots, Henrike conducted the interviews, based on a standardized questionnaire, with the included households.

(On the picture on the left: Henrike and Hennok conducting interviews with urban farmers; photo: Dittrich)

After a very busy phase of field activity, a massive amount of empirical data has been collected. Now, back in Germany, the data is currently entered and we plan to start the first analysis soon.

Nicole Dittrich
Research Fellow
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