To improve knowledge of land rights and access to land for communities in the municipalities of Yoko and Nanga Eboko in Central Cameroon, a workshop to present and validate the messages to be conveyed was held on September 5, 2025, at the GIZ offices in Yoko.
Land issues in the municipalities of Yoko and Nanga Eboko are marked by land insecurity and conflicts between villages and neighboring communities, due to a lack of information dissemination regarding land rights. To improve the target populations’ knowledge of responsible land policy, the Support Service for Local Development Initiatives (SAILD) organized a workshop to present and validate the messages to be conveyed during the implementation of the “Promotion of Responsible Land Policy (ProPFR)” project led by the German cooperation agency GIZ.
The meeting brought together local communities and municipal and administrative authorities from the districts of Yoko and Nanga Eboko. According to Fabrice Kengne Fotso of SAILD, the workshop focused on increasing local communities’ knowledge and understanding of the principles of responsible land policy. “The targets are small farmers, followed by local authorities and decentralized services. We want to explain to the population that, in principle, everything is provided for by law. After this campaign, it is expected that the population will demonstrate a better understanding of the legal framework” he explained.
Compensate for the lack of communication
Messages developed for the awareness campaign were presented and discussed.
On site, one could read: “I respect the various authorities responsible for land management; my land may be threatened; why do I secure my land? I obtain the necessary document to secure my land; I recognize and respect the existing categories of land in the village and its surroundings in order to ensure tranquility and peace in the village; I seek to know what the law says about land management.”
Marc Ntanko, technical advisor on land conflict prevention and management at ProPFR in Yoko, believes that communities lack communication and environmental planning, which increases land insecurity. “The ideas proposed are original, especially in terms of the messages to be conveyed. More often than not, people do not have the information and the necessary level of understanding to comprehend the specificities of land issues” he lamented.
In addition, “The content presented during this workshop was simple enough for small farmers who want to understand how they should secure their land in accordance with the law. Agricultural and pastoral conflicts are a recurring theme in the area, given the massive influx of transhumant herders” he concluded. Together, the SAILD and GIZ teams validated these messages to promote a better understanding of land with a view to securing it.
- Raïssa Fotio
