Assessment of Grazing Characteristics and Effects on Livelihoods of Food Crop Farmers in Bui and Donga Mantung, North West Cameroon

Livestock and crop production are livelihood complementary activities carried out in the grassfield areas of the rural Cameroon. Empirical studies have proven that these two activities have never been in harmony. This along side the grazing systems has had great reparcussions on farm parcels and crop yields. Preliminary field visits, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with both graziers and crop farmers alongside the administration of 300 semi-structured questionnaires were employed in order to obtain the required data. The results revealed that about 91.6% of the respondents practices extensive grazing system while about 89.7% of crop farmers practice permanent cultivation. Consequently, 88.4% have been victims of crop distruction and with 36.8% with frequency of between 6-10 times. The study also found that crop destruction by cattle has been on the increase as cattle population keeps increasing with increase scarcity in grazing land and fodder. Retreat on farm parcel and a subsequent reduction on household income are the immediate aftermath. However, there is a tendency of reconciliation as graziers have started becoming cautious about the existence of both activities through the formation of alliance farming.