Abstract
Small-scale farming constitutes a very important segment of the food production chain in most third world countries. In Cameroon for example, they constitute about 70% of the agrarian population. This study aimed at verifying the effects of agroecology and conventional farming techniques on crop yields in four sites in the South West Region of Cameroon from small-scale farms. Data were obtained through the administration of 200 questionnaires and two focus group discussions (FGDs). The data were analyzed using frequencies, means, coefficient of correlation, coefficient of determination, and linear regression models. The FGDs were also analysed using context analysis. All the analyses were performed in SPSS version 20 and Wordstat 7 software. The results showed that both agroecology and conventional farming techniques are used in the study sites but agroecology techniques are more responsible for yield increases than conventional techniques as seen in correlations coefficients and regression outputs. The only exceptions in which conventional farming techniques contribute more to yields was under income levels and the number of family members that live and work on the farm. This was justified by the fact that conventional techniques often require higher income levels since they are often purchased. Key words: Agroecology and conventional techniques, small-scale farmers, crop yields.
Highlights
Agriculture is important to Cameroon’s economy, because, it employs between 70 and 80% of the population, accounts for close to 50% of export earnings and contributes 30% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country (DSCN, 2002)
In terms of the age groups of small-scale farmers, 63 respondents representing 31% of the total belonged to 40 to 45 years age group while the >60 years age group recorded the smallest number of respondents (9 respondents or 4.5%)
The range of 21 to 25 years of farming experience was the lead category with 47 respondents representing 23.5% of the interviewees
Summary
Agriculture is important to Cameroon’s economy, because, it employs between 70 and 80% of the population, accounts for close to 50% of export earnings and contributes 30% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country (DSCN, 2002). A majority of the population involved in agriculture is dominated by small-. Scale farmers and their family members who constitute about 70% of the agricultural population Cameroon is currently experiencing declines or stagnation in food production (Epule and Bryant, 2015)
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