Creative Writing Contest Vol. 18 | Farming: How Is farming done in your community?

Hi Steemians. I'm happy to participate in this contest and i hope you go through my write up and know how the people in my community practice Farming.

I am from Ngie ( North west region of Cameroon, Momo division) and The people of this Area practice mostly subsistence farming.

** What Is Subsistence Farming?**

Subsistence farming is a farming method in which people cultivate crops mainly for family consumption.The excesses are sold off to meetup with family expenses. The land size upon which this farming is practiced is Generally small (2 to 3 hectares) usually because its basically for family consumption and because of lack of Capital to buy farm inputs.

What Are The Types of Subsistence Farming?

We have basically 4 types of Subsistence farming practiced in Ngie and the are as follows;

Shifting Cultivation.
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it is a system of farming in which Farmers shift from one field to the other. This happens when the soil looses its fertility. The farmers resort to abandoning the field to fallow and to regain its fertility and move to a new piece of land.

Primitive Farming.
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Its a subsistence farming System in which crude tools are used to cultivate the land. Most of the Farmers in Ngie because of the lack of modern facilities and lack of capital, resort to using crude tools.

Pastoral Normadism.
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Normads who practice Pastoral nomadism are Mostly The bororos. In Ngie, they are considered as wanderers vividly explaining how they leave the mountain tops to the valleys in the dry season and back in the rainy season. They have a way of life which is they move from place to place with their cattles in search of green Pasture.

Intensive susistence farming.
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In Ngie, palm oil is one of the cash crops, This crop is cultivated both for home consumption and also for sale. For instance, the Teze oil Mill is a big establishment which has an industry standard. It produces hundreds of round jars of palm oil Monthly. and this is ferried to the markets in Bamenda town, Douala etc.

How is subsistence farming practiced in Ngie?

In December and January, The fields are cleared using matchets and at times some of the fields which are to be cultivated are burnt.This is because at this time of the year, the grass most have dried off. Early February, march and april when early rains show up, The farms are cultivated and planted. Seeds cultivated include
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beans, Cocoyams, Maize, peper, groundnuts etc. All of these seeds are planted in small quantities on all of the farm beds. This practice is called mixed cropping. Some of these beds are opened up in the middle and grass and other organic stuffs are put inside and burned to increase the soil fertility. This practice is called Ankara. Ending april and early may, the grass is weeded to keep the crops to grow well. Havesting usually takes place in the dry season where in all the crops are gathered into the food barns.

What kind of tools do they use?

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Generally the tools used are crude tools like;
Matchet
hoe
shovel and spade
Conclusion
Ngie is a Rural Community and just like other rural communities, its economy is based on subsistence Farming and they rely solely on Farming for their Survival.