Restocking the Communal Grain Bank

Through community-run grain banks subsistence farmers of 34 villages in the arid Far North Province of Cameroon are combating the predatory practices of speculators, which exacerbate the already high poverty levels among the population and cause many to go hungry.

Training sessions were held to teach the farmers how to run a village granary. They were each provided with 60 bags of sorghum as a start up "capital" for their grain bank. These supplies serve at the same time as the community's food stocks for the lean months of August and September.

Households that run out of food can turn to their village grain bank and take food on in-kind credit. This loan is then paid back in grains from their next harvest, with an additional small amount as interest measured in grains per loaned bag of sorghum.