From Forest to Field: How Baka Communities in Eastern Cameroon Are Rebuilding Food Security

A changing forest, a fragile way of life

For centuries, the Baka people of eastern Cameroon have lived in close balance with the equatorial forest, relying on hunting, gathering and foraging to sustain their communities. That balance is now under strain. Climate shocks, including repeated droughts and floods, have reduced food availability. Economic instability, territorial encroachment and conflicts within Cameroon and in the neighbouring Central African Republic have added further pressure, triggering an influx of refugees and internally displaced people into forest areas.

In Mayos, a village of nearly 600 people in Dimako district, the impact has been severe. Food scarcity has forced families to walk deep into the forest in search of cassava leaves. Children have missed school to support household survival, sometimes trekking more than 50 kilometres. Elders fear that traditional knowledge is fading, without a clear alternative to replace it.

“Today, we live from farming, but that wasnn’t always the case. Our parents lived from hunting, gathering and foraging,” says Dieudonné Noutcheguenou, an elder of the Baka community in Mayos.

Farming and beekeeping as tools for resilience

Between April 2024 and June 2025, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, working with the Government of Cameroon and funded by the World Bank, implemented the Emergency Project to Combat the Food Crisis in Cameroon, known as PULCCA. The project focused on households most affected by climate shocks, offering practical ways to restore food production and income.

In Mayos, the approach combined traditional knowledge with adapted agricultural techniques. Families received production kits including plantain and cassava cuttings, yam seedlings, poultry and small ruminants. More than 30 training sessions introduced farming and beekeeping practices suited to local conditions. Consultation was central from the start, with activities conducted in the Baka language and community members taking part in project monitoring committees.

Antonio Querido, FAO Representative in Cameroon, says the initiative goes beyond short-term relief. “PULCCA is not only an emergency response to the food crisis. It is a commitment to strengthen the resilience of communities in situations of vulnerability, especially Indigenous Peoples, so that they become full actors in their own development.”

A farmer field school dedicated to cassava cultivation has become a shared learning space where men and women test techniques and exchange experience. Beekeeping has also emerged as a new economic opportunity, providing income while reducing the need to cut trees to access wild honey.

Restoring dignity and opportunity

For Angoula Nestor, one of the new Baka beekeepers, the change is tangible. “Before, collecting honey meant cutting trees and long, uncertain trips. Now, with training and protective gear, we harvest clean, high-quality honey and earn enough to support our families,” he says, adding that he hopes to learn how to build hives himself.

Mama Angelina Efouma, a grandmother in her seventies caring for ten grandchildren, describes the project as a lifeline. “My main concern is being able to keep working and feeding my family. I know the land well. I plant cassava and macabo. This project helps us enormously,” she says.

Cassava, once scarce, is now grown locally in Mayos. Honey has become both a source of income and pride. As Elder Noutcheguenou notes, “This project allows us to produce for ourselves, without depending on others. Our children can eat at home and go to school more easily. It’s a real step forward for our village.”

In Mayos alone, 374 people have directly benefited. Across eastern Cameroon, PULCCA has reached nearly 25,000 households in the departments of Lom-et-Djerem, Haut-Nyong, Boumba-et-Ngoko and Kadey.

The Voice of Africa perspective

The story of Mayos reflects a wider African reality. Many communities across the continent are confronting climate change with limited resources, yet they are also showing how adaptation can be rooted in local knowledge and dignity. Africa’s nations are young, and so too are many of their development pathways. When Indigenous communities are treated as partners rather than beneficiaries, resilience becomes possible. In eastern Cameroon, the shift from forest dependence to diversified livelihoods is not a loss of identity, but an evolution shaped by necessity, agency and hope.

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