It Takes A Community To Clean The Water

Pumping water from an underground source.

The last time that the Community Agriculture and Environmental Protection Association CameroonCOMMUNITY AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ASSOCIATION CAMEROON (CAEPA Cameroon) conducted an awareness campaign about water catchment areas was in 2011, five years ago, in the Balkumbat, Bali Gashu, and Bali Gansinabout communities. So, it was about time to return and note the results.

After printing up some 1500 posters back in 2011, the Field Staff team began the process of holding workshops in these communities and also distributing posters and other informational materials. The team estimated that about 16,500 members of the community received this information. In addition, they also created a network of water catchment protectors and local water governance committees, whose function is to push for improvements in managing the catchments.



In surveys of these communities, field staff found farmers in the catchment areas of Balkumbat were able to cultivate vegetables and tomatoes year round because of the availability of water for the entire year. In Bali Gansin. the council was able to prohibit additional farming and grazing once community members had planted their crops.

Each community had also developed tree nurseries, containing 20,000 trees available for transplant in each catchment. When the time came to plant trees, a traditional crier went around the area to summon help to plant the trees, which occurred on different dates in the three catchments.

There were some problems that needed to be addressed, however. During the monsoon season, there was always abundant drinking water, but during the dry season, families could go for days without water and would have to resort to small wells dug among the raffia bushes. That had also left community members vulnerable to waterborne diseases. At the district hospital, fifty people were affected by these diseases back in 2011.

Water containers transport water back to the home.

On this visit in April, the field team noticed the differences. Since the workshops. fencing has been built around the water sources, keeping out grazing animals. Water-sparing shade trees have been planted around them, helping to prevent evaporation and preserve water. Water is now no longer contaminated with animal waste and is clean. Farming restrictions removed pesticide and fungicides. That allowed the community to obtain clean water more easily. In checking the records again at the district hospital, the team found an improvement as early as 2012, with only 21 people affected by waterborne illnesses. The results show that with some hard work and community effort, local water resources can be improved, leading to improved community health.

A stream used for household water.

Thanks for information from this blog post on CAEPA: http://www.caepa-cameroon.org/conducting-water-catchment-sensitization-to-communities/; and the above link.

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