Small-Scale Agriculture and Poverty Alleviation in the Upper-Nyong Division, East Region (Cameroon)

Small-scale agriculture whichaccording to the World Bank (2002), employs three out of four poor people in rural areas of developing countries has significantly increased agricultural production over the years resulting in more income per capita. Its contribution to poverty alleviation, however,is still minimal in Cameroon in general and Upper Nyong Division in the East region in particular asthe benefitsderived havestill not eradicated poverty to the barest minimum. It is in furtherance to this that this study examines the role of small scale agriculture as a tool of poverty alleviation in the Upper Nyong division in the East Region of Cameroon. The study used secondary and primary data (published and unpublished)as well grey dataon aspects related to small-scale agriculture and livelihood enhancement. Primary data were collected through field observations, administration of questionnaires to 444 households in 14 sampled SubDivisions, focus group discussions, interviews guides and on-the-spot appraisals. The findings revealed that smallscale agriculture has not contributed substantially in livelihood enhancement in most rural households of theUpper-Nyong Division. This could be accounted for by the fact that peasant farmers in this region still use rudimentary agricultural tools (90%), physical contraints related to climate change and variability (44%),limited knowledge on improved agricultural techniques (15%), inadequate capital (25%), deviation of agricultural labour to other sectors of the economy (15%), and inadequate/poor farm to market roads (19%). Despite these stalemates, field workrevealed that apart fromthe secondary sector which employs 10% of the population of the Upper Nyong division,small-scale agriculture remains themain economic activity of the people (90%). These findings thus canvass the need for the stateto double efforts in ensuring that challenges linked to small scale agriculture be dismantled and neutralized through intensive sensitization and provision of modern agricultural techniques and equipment, construction of farm to market roads, provision of loans to farmers to improve on their production.