The return of the water - IUCN

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2 The Need for Increased Rice Production By Charles Njomaha and Jean-Yves Pirot 2.1 The colonial view of economic development Foreign involvement in northern Cameroon started in 1902 when the Germans arrived and began to map the territory. Following the German defeat in World War I the League of Nations granted the French and the British the mandate to rule over Cameroon. When the French arrived for the first time in the North of Cameroon in 1916, they had to intervene in the intertribal warfare. They set up an administrative network that was based on the Fulbe traditional chieftaincy. In the 1930s the French wanted to develop the infrastructure in the far North in support of the local administration. The funds required for the improvement of the infrastructure would be generated by an increase in tax revenues gained from the production of cash crops. Thus, people were encouraged to grow groundnuts and cotton. People living in the mountains were already growing groundnuts, so the French were able to increase the production by importing, testing and diffusing additional seeds from Nigeria and other West African countries. The groundnuts were first transported to Garoua, and then shipped via the Benue River to Port Harcourt in Nigeria to be traded on the world market. The trials with annual cotton failed, however, because no research was undertaken to advise farmers on how to grow the cotton under the local circumstances. The nearest location where annual cotton was grown was in Chad. During the Second World War (1939 – 1945), development activities in the region were significantly reduced. After the war the French recognised that the realisation of the basic infrastructural necessities could not be borne by the agricultural sector alone. Therefore, a French-based investment fund (FIDES 1 ), a cotton and textiles development corporation (CFDT 2 ), and two research institutes (IRCT 3 and IRAT 4 ) were created in 1946 to finance and support infrastructural and agricultural developments in Cameroon and other colonies. In this new structure, tax revenues were used only to supplement the development fund. A few years later, in 1952, a new rural development company (SEMNORD 5 ) was created in northern Cameroon with the aim to disseminate technologies on food crops. Due to the long-lasting floods (6 to 8 months), and the presence of heavy clay soils (vertisols), only floating rice was grown in the Logone floodplain. In the period 1942 to 1947, the total rice production in the north of Cameroon increased from five to ten tonnes of paddy rice, and by 1950, the total rice production had increased to 350 tonnes (Beauvilain, 1989). Not surprisingly, therefore, SEMNORD started with experimental plots for irrigated rice. The positive results of these trials led to the conclusion that irrigated rice would be a suitable crop for the Logone floodplain. In 1954, a rice company, called SEMRY 6 ,was created to promote the local rice production in the Logone floodplain and to organise the rice marketing activities. By 1965, SEMRY was supervising 10,000 farmers for a total of 6,500 hectares of cultivated land and a production of nearly 10,000 tonnes of paddy rice (Roupsard, 1987). There were four major producing centres: Yagoua, Djafga, Pouss and Ngodeni. From 1953 to 1970, the annual quantity of rice sold in Cameroon by SEMRY increased from 1,500 1 FIDES: Fonds d’Investissement pour le Développement Economique et Social des Territoires d’Outre- Mer/ Economic and Social Development Fund for Overseas Possessions 2 CFDT: Compagnie française de Développement des Fibres Textiles 3 IRCT: Institut de la Recherche du Coton et des fibres Textiles 4 IRAT: Institut de Recherches Agronomiques Tropicales et des cultures vivrières 5 SEMNORD: Secteur Expérimental de Modernisation du Nord 6 SEMRY: Secteur Expérimental de Modernisation de la Riziculture de Yagoua 13
The Return of the Water tonnes to 4,100 tonnes and this represented about 30% of the national consumption (MINPLAD, 1970b). The major problem facing the company was its inability to control the overflows of the Logone river, which reduced the effects of fertilisers and significantly influenced rice yields. Other problems included the lack of qualified researchers, market distortions due to an informal market of paddy rice and the relatively low price of imported rice arriving in Douala. 2.2 Intensification and expansion of rice production From Independence (1960), the Cameroon administration organised activities and investments within five-year Development Plans. The second Development Plan (1966-1971) had the following objectives: (1) to reduce food imports (2) to increase inter-regional trade within the country and (3) to increase rural household incomes. Within the framework of this second Plan, the government ordered a feasibility study of an intensification of SEMRY activities in 1967 (MINPLAD, 1970a). This intensification programme involved the construction of embankments to stop bank overflows from the Logone river, a controlled irrigation of rice plots through water pumping, the use of fertilisers and improved varieties and the use of adequate machinery to plough the land. The study took three years (1967-1970) and was conducted by IRAT, SOGETHA and a private engineering company. The study concluded that rice yields could be doubled to three tonnes per hectare because farmers could produce twice a year. These projected yields were expected to increase farmers’ annual income substantially (estimated in 1968 at 23.80). By 1985 SEMRY could thus attain a yearly production of 16,000 tonnes of white rice. This figure would represent 40% of the estimated national consumption at a projected five per cent growth of urban population, assuming favourable income elasticity for rice. The reduction of annual rice imports resulting from the project would constitute savings of about 610,000 to 760,000 to the treasury. The estimated economic rate of returns of the project varied between 11.6 and 17.7%, depending on the various production scenarios. Although the financial rate of return was relatively low (4 to 5.7%), it was predicted that the external capital investment could be paid back entirely by 1985. Finally, to increase the price competitiveness of SEMRY rice compared to imported rice in Douala and Yaoundé, the consultants recommended an improvement of the road network between Yagoua and Douala, and to levy a levelling tax of € 0.01 per kg on imported rice (MINPLAD, 1970a,b). Based on these projected agronomic and financial results, the Cameroon government decided to intensify the project. A new SEMRY 7 project was created in Yagoua in 1971, with the objective of increasing rice production. Expected spin-offs were a reduction in famine incidence in north Cameroon, to back-up the country’s self-sufficiency in rice, to increase farmers’ income and to reduce rural to urban migration. The intensification project started with an investment of € 3.96 million jointly financed by the World Bank, two French institutions (FAC 8 and CCCE 9 ) and the Cameroon government (Roupsard, 1987). By 1975-76, SEMRY portrayed outstanding agronomic performances: the paddy yields ranged from four to six tonnes per hectare, far above the predicted three tonnes. The annual production of paddy reached 23,391 tonnes, about 50% more than the production projected by the feasibility studies. Given this agronomic success, the Cameroon government decided to expand the intensification programme to other favourable areas of the Logone floodplain. This expansion was expected to help the company to achieve quickly and fully its objectives listed above. The location studies conducted in 1976 led to the creation of two other SEMRY units in Maga (SEMRY II in 1977) and Kousseri (SEMRY III in 1978). To avoid the high costs of irrigation by pumps, which increased the production costs in Yagoua and Kousseri, the government decided to build a dam in order to create the Lake Maga. The lake would cover an area 7 SEMRY: Société d’Expansion et de Modernisation de la Riziculture de Yagoua 8 FAC:Fonds d’Aide à la Coopération (France) 9 CCCE: Caisse Centrale de Coopération Economique 14
Page 1 and 2: IUCN - The World Conservation Union
Page 3 and 4: The designation of geographical ent
Page 6 and 7: Table of Contents Foreword vii Cont
Page 8 and 9: Foreword This book tells the story
Page 10 and 11: Contributors Dr. Mike Acreman, Head
Page 12 and 13: from the Atlas de la Province de l
Page 14 and 15: List of Tables 1.1 Major floodplain
Page 16: List of Plates 1.1 Different views
Page 20 and 21: 1 1.1 Floodplains Introduction By P
Page 22 and 23: Introduction Rainfall in the Sahel
Page 24 and 25: species of ungulates, such as korri
Page 26 and 27: From its inception, the Waza Logone
Page 28: Part II The Receding Water
Page 33 and 34: The Return of the Water that the re
Page 36 and 37: 3 Consequences of the Dam and the D
Page 38 and 39: eduction in flooding (Drijver and M
Page 40: 3.3 Socio-economic consequences Con
Page 44 and 45: 4 The Wider Context By Sun Yan Evan
Page 46 and 47: Africa. A third migration route to
Page 48 and 49: The Wider Context The geographical
Page 50 and 51: 5 Hydrology of the Waza Logone Area
Page 52 and 53: variable, the extent, depth, durati
Page 54: Hydrology of the Waza Logone Area C
Page 57 and 58: The Return of the Water brought to
Page 59 and 60: The Return of the Water 1997). The
Page 61 and 62: The Return of the Water dam, the pe
Page 63 and 64: The Return of the Water 1948; Ngog
Page 65 and 66: The Return of the Water into the bu
Page 68: Part IV Living with the Seasons
Page 71 and 72: The Return of the Water While the f
Page 73 and 74: The Return of the Water Most of the
Page 75 and 76: The Return of the Water which the f
Page 77 and 78: The Return of the Water from € 0.
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The Return of the Water The Musgum
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The Return of the Water check their
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Plate 1.2 Kob antelopes at the Mahe
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Plate 7.2 Seasonal movements of pas
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Plate 7.4 Fishing cannals in the Lo
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Plate 7.7 Big fish are only caught
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The Return of the Water staple food
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8 Conflicts and Conflict Management
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Conflicts and Conflict Management i
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Conflicts and Conflict Management i
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Part V The Intervention
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The Return of the Water for the Exi
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The Return of the Water both techni
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The Return of the Water (IUCN 2000a
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The Return of the Water 9.5 The Waz
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The Return of the Water of the part
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10 The Waza Logone Project in Actio
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The Waza Logone Project in Action F
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The Waza Logone Project in Action F
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The Waza Logone Project in Action f
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follow to obtain permits, and also,
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started by painting in red trees or
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The Waza Logone Project in Action
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The project maintained relations wi
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11 11.1 Introduction Economic Justi
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Although it is impossible to effect
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Economic Justification of Additiona
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Page 140 and 141:
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Figure 11.5 Composition of incremen
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12 Tools and Practices for Floodpla
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of the 1994 and 1997 pilot flood re
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Tools and Practices for Floodplain
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A major output from the study was a
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Step 10. Monitor, evaluate and adap
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5. Assess the impacts of options.
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Introduction 137
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Introduction From this premise the
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Introduction One of the most promis
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Introduction reorganisation of the
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Introduction Improving the effectiv
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Map 6.1 Satellite images showing se
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Map 6.3 Positions of two elephants
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Introduction Beauvilain, A. 1981.
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Introduction Gash, J.H.C., C.A. Nob
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Introduction Moritz, M., P. Scholte
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Introduction communities’ and ind
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