Family Farm Schools Network (Ecoles Familiales Agricoles - EFA)

		Florence Augustine Mbazoa, Promoter of the Bikoka EFA (Family Farm School) in Cameroon Sector: Vocational Training Location: Centre, West, Coast, South, East, Adamaoua, North and Extreme North of Cameroon Local Partner: La Coordination Nationale des Ecoles Familiales Agricoles du Cameroun (CNEFAC) (The National Coordination of Cameroon Family Farm Schools) Start of Partnership : 1992

«Participate in the development of my village»

“Before working for the Family Farm Schools, I worked independently in agriculture and in household activities. I really wanted to be able to participate in the development of my village “Bikoka”, and so I got interested in the Family Farm Schools and decided to become involved and to be able to offer the young girls and boys of our village the opportunity to have training.

«Create and build mutual trust between the trainers and the pupils»

My training in rural sociology was a plus that helped create mutual trust and made communication with the parents and the pupils a lot easier. This has now resulted in us organizing regular cultural events with the young people (between the ages of 14 and 25). This gives me the chance to explain to them the path to follow to be financially independent right from the first year of training.
On a more general level, the local community is really involved in the school activities. We are also continuing our awareness campaigns for young people, adults and village associations, to increase the number of people being trained.

«We aim to mix girls and boys in the future»

We aim to mix girls and boys in the future, although the girls are more hesitant about the training and are often unstable because of precocious marriages. The boys, however, appreciate all the activities offered and are very interested by agriculture and breeding techniques. We reckon that our plan to mix girls and boys in training in Bikoka will bring positive results."