Mbororo women diversifying their livelihoods and scaling climate-resilient agriculture.
By Sandra Tuombouh
The Indigenous Mbororo community in Cameroon numbers more than one million people, roughly 12% of the country’s population. They are spread across six regions: Far North, North, Adamawa, East, North West and West. Traditionally pastoralists, a good number of them have moved and settled along the savannahs of the North West region in search of pasture and water for their livestock. Over the years, their way of life is increasingly under threat. Conflicts that arise from scarce resources and tensions with powerful landowners expose them to eviction and rights violations. At the same time, the climate crisis is making an already difficult situation worse. Climate induced shocks such as droughts, heat waves, irregular rainfall and shrinking water sources are reducing pasture lands and causing livestock losses through hunger and disease. For a community whose livelihood depends almost entirely on animal grazing, these pressures weaken both economic stability and adaptive capacity.
A Small Grant, A Shift in Direction in July 2025, Support Humanity Cameroon launched a locally-led adaptation initiative in North West Cameroon, designed to translate high-level climate commitments into practical action on the ground. Funded through a small grant from Power Shift Africa, the project seeks to enhance food security, improve livelihoods, restore degraded agro-pastoral lands, and bring the strategies outlined in Cameroon’s NAPs and NDCs to concrete ground action.
Through the grant, over 400 people from 45 Mbororo households, majority being women, received tools and farm inputs including hoes, watering cans, and seeds to begin diversifying their livelihoods and scaling climate-resilient agriculture. The small grant opened a pathway for the community to engage in regenerative agriculture and build sustainable alternative livelihoods. “In the 21st century, it is unacceptable that a group of people with huge potential continue to depend solely on others for their livelihoods. This is not just about the economic empowerment of the Mbororo women. This is about justice. It is about taking solutions to people who are most impacted by climate change but are often forgotten when decisions are being taken…. This project is a demonstration of what resilience building and adaptation looks like when resources are channeled directly to frontline communities.” Said Sunday Geofrey, team lead of the adaptation project. Beneficiaries established household food gardens, an approach that the Environmental and Rural Development Foundation (ERuDeF) notes can address the root causes of hunger, poverty and inequality by transforming food systems and strengthening resilience.After five months, these gardens are already producing significant quantities of food, enabling families not only to feed themselves but to generate income from surplus harvests. Though many participants were new to farming, the alternative livelihood support is widely embraced, “The seeds we received have really helped us in our different families. In the past, we depended only on cattle grazing. Since you {SUHUCAM} introduced this activity, we are making progress. We are very grateful” Ramata Bouba shares. “This initiative has helped a lot of people. More than ten people benefit from crop yields on one person’s farm” adds Musa Nuhou, a Mbororo youth.What began as a small grant is now helping a once-vulnerable communities build resilience, increase food security, and gain financial independence. With climate pressures intensifying, the Mbororo community of Awing, Balikumbat and Bamunkumbit are demonstrating that locally-led action even with the smallest funding can translate national policy aspirations into meaningful and lasting change.
SUHUCAM teaching the women goof farm practices.
