Mission
and History
The
mission of PRTC Fonta is to alleviate the poverty of the rural
poor in the North West Province of Cameroon through training,
adaptive research and extension work in sustainable agriculture.
Utilizing participatory methods, our highly skilled, knowledgeable
and motivated staff work with female, male and young farmers
to improve yields of crops and livestock. Awareness is created
among farmers who are encouraged to use their talents to improve
their own living standards in socio-economic initiatives.
Since
1968, the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC) has identified
a need to alleviate poverty in the rural areas and curb rural/urban
migration in the North West Province. The hard working spirit
of the rural people attracted the concern of the PCC which took
it as a task to bring them a step up from their “living
a hand to mouth life” to exploiting available avenues that
can improve their living standard. The idea of creating an NGO
for this purpose was then conceived and PRTC Fonta was created
to serve humanity in the domain of sustainable agriculture.
Activities
began in 1970 around the Fonta Area (Bambui/Bafut) and today
PRTC works throughout the Bui, Boyo, Momo, Mezam, Ngoketunjira
and Donga-Mantung Divisions. Since its inception, PRTC has trained
over 25.000 farmers in sustainable agriculture, natural resource
management, group leadership and other skills for successful
modern farming.
PRTC
aims to:
-
secure
food and improve nutrition in the villages,
-
encourage
planting of improved quality seed materials,
-
promote
the cultivation of medicinal plants and health education sensitization
(particularly on HIV/AIDS),
-
reduce
rural-to-urban migration,
-
increase
access to credit among the poorest of the poor (especially
women),
-
encourage
diversfication of activities for income generation, and
-
improve
on natural resource management.
Networking/Collaboration
PRTC Fonta collaborates
with many national and international organizations with similar
goals and ideas, including SIRDEP, Helvetas, IRAD, the Swiss College
of Agriculture (SCA) and IITA. We regularly receive students for
practical internships from RCA/TSA, Bambili, the Veterinary College,
Jakiri and Dscheng University. We are also a founding member of
the Forum for Women’s Information and Coordination (FOWIC)
and the Network for Sustainable Agriculture (NESA) in Bamenda.
PRTC is an autonomous
NGO of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC) and is funded
principally by the Methodist Relief & Development Fund, UK
and Mission 21, Switzerland.
Finances
