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1. The formal source of credit is granted by government institutions such as FIMAC and
‘Crédit Agricole’. Few smallholders qualify for this and the interest rate is high.
2. The informal source is that called ‘tontine’, explained above. Informal source of credit
works better and farmers tend to prefer it to the formal.
Farm investment
Though most of farmers’ financial revenues come from agriculture, very little of it is directly reinvested
in agricultural production. Table 2.4 gives the priority expenditures of farmers. One
can observe that expenditures for agricultural activities come in fourth position, occasionally to
buy fungicides for cocoa spray.
Table 2.4. Farmer’s priority expenditures
Priority Expenditures Rank Freq.(%) Priority Expenditures Rank Freq.(%)
Kerosene, soap, drugs 1 68 Drink 7 47
Children school fees 2 57 Food 8 29
House building and repair 3 38 Seeds 9 32
Agricultural material 4 45 Kitchen utensils 10 30
Paid agricultural labour 5 33 Mourning / funeral 11 70
Clothing 6 37 Gifts and assistance 12 78
Sample size n = 200
2.3.3 Cropping systems
Cropping calendar
Table 2.5 presents three cropping seasons. The first (‘Essep’), running from March to July, is
the most important. Most bush fallow and forest land opened in December / January is used
during that period for ‘ngon’ (Cucumeropsis mannii) cultivation. The long dry season running
from mid-November to end of February allows the felling and drying of trees and branches from
bush and forest fallow clearing. The total area cultivated by a farmer is large (see field size).
Table 2.5. Cropping calendar in the study area.
Growing Clearing of Felling of Burning Planting Harvest
seasons understorey trees
‘Essep’ December / January / January / March / April July
1 st season January February February
‘Oyon’ June / July July / August July / August August / November
2 nd season
September
‘Assan’
Valley bottom
November December December /
January
December /
January
March
The second growing season (‘Oyon’), from August to November, is less important than the first
season; mostly Chromolaena fallow is cleared; the preceding short dry season running from
July to mid-August is not long enough to allow tree felling and drying. The total area cultivated
by a farmer is reduced (see fields size). Arable swamps and valley bottom are cultivated
between December and March (‘Assan’) for the off-season production of food crops; but not all
families own an ‘Assan’ crop field, since not everybody possesses an arable valley bottom or
swamp.
Land use types in a farm
Farm agricultural land use can be divided in three types: home gardens (or ‘guie pion’) near the
home, perennial plantations (cocoa, oil palm) at a somewhat greater distance, and shifting
cultivation field (food crop fields and fallow) away from the farmer’s dwelling. The cultivation
of food crop field shifts every season from one place to another by clearing and burning a tract
of fallow land or primary forest. The fallow land can be a forest fallow (FF, ‘Afan’), a bush
fallow (BF, ‘Nnom ekodok’) or a Chromolaena fallow (CF, ‘Ekodok ngoumgoum’). Arable
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