This document presents the contribution of the Service d'Appui aux Initiatives Locales de Développement (SAILD-NGO) to the food security and nutritional diversification of targeted families in 21 villages in the Far North and East regions of Cameroon. The publication is funded by Bread for the World within the project "Strengthening food security and improving dietary diversity of smallholder families in the Far North and East regions of Cameroon".

This project intends to contribute to the reduction of food insecurity and the improvement of food diversity of smallholder families through agroecological practices. The families targeted by this project are spread over 21 villages in the Far North and East of Cameroon. For 3 years and 8 months (October 2017-June 2021), 2500 smallholder families were accompanied to improve agricultural productivity and nutrition. The collection of information on agriculture, livestock, land management and nutrition in the selected villages allowed to understand the initial situation in these villages and to identify the crops as well as the practices to be promoted under the project. To improve agricultural productivity, emphasis was placed on the extension of agroecological practices to improve soil fertility and rehabilitate degraded land. Small-scale producers were trained on agroecological practices specific to the different terroirs.

These practices include:

- Restoration of degraded lands by planting pigeon pea.

- The creation of contour lines or bunds to protect plots from erosion.

- Soil fertilization through the proper use of compost and organic manure.

- Crop succession through the use of legumes (soybeans, beans and cowpeas) to fertilize the soil.

The extension of these sustainable agriculture practices was done in the Farmer Field Schools (FFS) set up in the 21 villages targeted by the project. Through the FFSs, which are run by designated farmer facilitators within the populations, the promoted agroecological practices have been adopted by a large majority of small-scale producers who are beneficiaries of the project. Through nutrition education and nutritional cooking, households have been trained to prepare and consume meals with high nutritional value.