Nutrition survey FINAL

Food accessibility
in six community forests
in the Yokadouma area,
Eastern Cameroon
Judith van Eijnatten
Maguy Belobo Belibi
May 2013
This report investigates food security, focusing on food access, in 7 villages, in 6 community forests
around Yokadouma in Eastern Cameroon. MAHFP and HDDS questionnaires were administered to 75
respondents. Results show difficulty in food provisioning during 4 to 7 months of the year and a
dietary diversity score ranging from 1.8 to 5.3 with an average of 3.6 out of 12. With 67% of
households having consumed NTFPs during the last 24 hours the study shows a high dietary reliance
on NTFPs in all communities. Recommendations provide entry points to reduce reliance on NTFPs by
making available other food sources. It is suggested that a women-centered nutrition sensitive
agriculture approach would be most appropriate.

1
Acknowledgements
Sincere thanks goes to the women of the villages of Mbol 2, Okak, Adjela, Ngatto, Zokadiba, Gribé
and Mboy 2 for their willingness to participate in this survey. A big thank you is also due to Joseph
Abono, Focal Point of the “Réseau des Gestionnaires des Forêts Communautaires de la Boumba et
Ngoko (REGEFOC)” and Sylvie Assoh, Coordinator of the NGO “Association Féminine pour le
Développement, la Conservation de la Biodiversité et la Défense des Droits Humains (AFDECDH)” for
their contributions in administering the questionnaire in spite of a very busy schedule. The survey
could not have delivered the results it has without their implication.
Judith van Eijnatten
Maguy Belobo Belibi

2
Contents
1. Introduction.....................................................................................................................................3
2. Nutrition sensitive agriculture.........................................................................................................4
3. Food security...................................................................................................................................4
4. MAHFP and HDDS............................................................................................................................5
4.1 MAHFP.....................................................................................................................................5
4.2 HDDS........................................................................................................................................6
5. Methodology...................................................................................................................................6
6. Results and analysis.........................................................................................................................7
6.1 Months of adequate household food provisioning.................................................................8
6.1.1 Mbol 2 and Okak villages......................................................................................................8
6.1.2 Adjela, Ngatto, Zokadiba and Gribé villages.........................................................................9
6.1.3 Mboy 2 village.....................................................................................................................10
6.2 Household dietary diversity score.........................................................................................10
6.3 Notes on accessibility of specific food groups ......................................................................11
6.3.1 Staple foods...................................................................................................................12
6.3.2 Protein-rich foods..........................................................................................................12
6.3.3 Vegetables and fruits.....................................................................................................13
6.3.4 Oils and fats...................................................................................................................13
6.3.5 Food groups not or rarely consumed............................................................................13
6.3.6 NTFPs.............................................................................................................................13
7. Conclusion and discussion.............................................................................................................14
7.1 Food provisioning and dietary diversity................................................................................15
7.2 Consumption patterns for different food groups .................................................................15
7.3 The place of NTFPs in the diets of forest communities.........................................................15
7.4 Women’s status, health, nutrition and agriculture...............................................................16
8. Recommendations ........................................................................................................................16
Annex 1: Questionnaire.........................................................................................................................19
Annex 2: Common NTFPs (plants) collected in the surveyed villages...................................................20
Annex 3: Visual presentation of time/labour spent by women collecting and processing NTFPs .......21
Annex 4: Labour and timesaving equipment for NTFP processing .......................................................24
Annex 5: Determinants of child nutrition and interventions to address them.....................................26

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1. Introduction
From 2009, SNV has been working with communities living in community forests around Yokadouma
and Lomié in the East Region of Cameroon to improve the production and commercialisation of non-
timber forest products (NTFPs). The work targeted women who are the traditional collectors of
NTFPs, and who process and utilise NTFPs for their households’ food security. While NTFPs were
traditionally collected to complement and enrich household diets, nowadays they are also sold by
women for cash income to complement household budgets. Recent data show that a significant part
of the income earned from NTFP sales was used by women to further enhance household nutrition
and health outcomes by buying food products and acquiring health services. The income was also
used to fulfil basic needs including housing and education and sometimes material needs (e.g.
acquiring kitchen utensils and household furniture)1
. The work led to the recognition that NTFPs
form an indispensable part of local food systems both in terms of direct household food supply and a
means to earn cash to buy complementary foods. NTFPs, including bushmeat, mushrooms, leaves,
fruit and a range of (oil-rich) seeds, constitute important suppliers of protein and micro-nutrients
enriching the diets of forest communities.
Figure 1: NTFP collection, traditionally a woman’s activity
Woman going into the forest to collect NTFPs NTFP (talala) collection by a group of women
SNV’s NTFP work is programmed to end by July 2013. However, being interested in further exploring
the nutritional aspects of NTFPs, their importance in the diets and food systems of forest
communities and their relationship with agriculture, SNV conducted a survey to gain information on
the food security (specifically food accessibility) of forest communities. The information was
collected with a view to determine the contours of a project in line with the global discussions on
“nutrition sensitive agriculture”, a subject which is fast gaining momentum on the global stage2
.
1
Source : NTFP registers of the “Regroupement des Forêts Communautaires du Dja (REFOCOD) and the “Réseau des
Gestionnaires des Forêts Communautaires de la Boumba et Ngoko (REGEFOC); the data from these registers is currently
being consolidated into a digital database.
2
Important initiatives addressing undernutrition through agriculture include:
• The Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) global movement (attention to multisectoral action).
• The Zero Hunger Challenge launched by the UN Secretary General to end hunger and malnutrition within our lifetimes.
• Development of country CAADP plans (Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme) which include
nutrition in Pillar 3 (Food Supply and Hunger); the CAADP establishment process is on-going in Cameroon.
• CGIAR research programs: Nutrition and Health (CRP-4) and Agriculture for Improved Nutrition and Health (A4NH).
• Nutrition mainstreaming is a FAO corporate priority.
• Multiple development partners have recently developed agriculture-nutrition guidance and tools. A good example is
“Improving nutrition through multisectoral approaches, agriculture and rural development”, 2012. World Bank. See:
http://www-

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2. Nutrition sensitive agriculture
The FAO advocates that unless more attention is given to food-based interventions which promote
dietary diversity and the consumption of nutritionally rich foods, the goal of ending hunger may not
be achieved3
. The agriculture sector is particularly well-placed to influence food production and the
consumption of nutritious foods necessary for healthy and active lives. Nutrition sensitive agriculture
aims to maximize the impact of nutrition outcomes for the poor, while minimizing the unintended
negative nutritional consequences of agricultural interventions and policies, especially for women
and young children. Nutrition sensitive agriculture is agriculture with a nutrition lens and in principle
does not detract from the sector’s own goals. Nutrition sensitive agriculture may also pursue
improved water quality, decreased disease occurrence, increased food safety, and improvements in
women’s time use (which, in turn, affect child care practices). Each of these areas is important for
improved nutrition outcomes.
The principles of nutrition sensitive agriculture are:
• Investing in women by safeguarding and strengthening the capacity of women to provide for
the food security, health, and nutrition of their families.
• Increasing access to, and year-round availability, of high-nutrient content food.
• Improving nutrition knowledge among rural households to enhance dietary diversity.
• Incorporating explicit nutrition objectives and indicators into agricultural project and policy
design.
Nutrition sensitivity in agricultural projects also entails periodic measurement of food consumption
indicators through methods such as the “Months of Adequate Household Food Provisioning”
(MAHFP) and “Household Dietary Diversity Score” (HDDS), tools which were used for the current
exploratory survey.
3. Food security
Food security is defined as “when all people at all times have both physical and economic access to
sufficient food to meet their dietary needs for a productive and healthy life” (USAID). One can speak
of food security when there is:
• Food availability: sufficient quantities of appropriate, necessary types of food from domestic
production, commercial imports or donors which are consistently available to people or are
within their reach.
wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2013/02/05/000356161_20130205130450/Rendere
d/PDF/751030BRI0Impr00Box374299B00PUBLIC0.pdf
• The first-ever International Conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition was organized by FAO from 13-15 May
2013. It highlighted the contributions of forests, trees and agroforestry systems to food security and nutrition in many
parts of the world.
• The second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) is planned at FAO Headquarters, in Rome, 19-21 November
2014. It is an inclusive inter-governmental meeting on nutrition jointly organized by the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The ICN2 will be a high-level ministerial conference to
propose a flexible policy framework addressing today’s major nutrition challenges and identifying priorities for enhanced
international cooperation on nutrition. See also: http://www.fao.org/food/nutritional-policies-strategies/icn2/en/.
3
FAO’s Approach to Nutrition-Sensitive Agricultural Development, B. Thompson and L. Amoroso, 2013. See:
http://www.fao.org/ag/agn/nutrition/docs/FAO_Approach_to%20Nutrition_sensitive_agricultural_development.pdf

5
• Food access: is the ability to acquire sufficient quality and quantity of food to meet all
household members’ nutritional requirements for productive lives. One can speak of having
food access when there is adequate income or other resources to purchase or barter to
obtain levels of appropriate food needed to maintain consumption of an adequate
diet/nutrition level.
• Food utilization: refers to the individual’s biological capacity to make use of food for a
productive life. It is when food is properly used, proper food processing and storage
techniques are employed, adequate knowledge of nutrition and child care techniques exist
and are applied, and adequate health and sanitation services exist4
.
The current survey aims to measure household food access through two proxy measures: household
food provisioning and household dietary diversity. For this, two commonly used survey
methodologies were applied:
• Months of Adequate Household Food Provisioning (MAHFP),
• Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS).
4. MAHFP and HDDS
The sections below give a brief background on MAHFP and HDDS.
4.1 MAHFP
Food access depends on the ability of households to obtain food from their own production, stocks,
purchases, gathering, or through food transfers from relatives, members of the community, the
government or donors. A household’s access to food also depends on the resources available to
individual household members and the steps it must take to obtain those resources such as the
exchange of goods and services.
As a household manages its resources over the course of a
year, the ability to meet its food needs may vary due to
any number of factors such as inadequate crop production
or lack of labour, loss or decrease in income sources such
as employment, social obligations or natural disaster. The
overall goal of food security programs is to reduce the
degree to which a household is vulnerable to any factor
that results in insufficient food, or to enhance community
resilience and livelihood capacities in the face of shocks.
Measuring household food provisioning over the course of
a year, using MAHFP, allows capturing both the baseline
and the combined effects of a range of interventions and
strategies, such as improved agricultural production,
storage and interventions that increase the household’s
purchasing power. Obtaining data using MAHFP is
4
USAID Policy Determination, Definition of Food Security, April 13, 1992.
Figure 2: Woman pounding grilled moabi seeds
for processing into cooking oil

6
relatively straightforward and quick.
4.2 HDDS
The household dietary diversity score is a score of the number of different food groups (out of a
total of 12 food groups) consumed by a household over 24 hours. A high score signifies a diversified
diet, a low score a monotonous diet. The scores are interpreted in the light of the following:
• A diversified diet is an important outcome in and of itself as it indicates the availability and
accessibility of food.
• A diversified diet is highly correlated with caloric and protein adequacy, percentage of
protein from animal sources (high quality protein), and household income.
• A diversified diet is associated with improved health outcomes (including birth weight, child
anthropometric status, and improved blood haemoglobin concentrations).
Even in very poor households, increased food expenditure resulting from additional income is
associated with increased quantity and quality of the diet. Therefore the HDDS tool is useful to
measure the effect of project activities targeting income generation such as undertaken by SNV.
Obtaining data using HDDS is relatively straightforward and quick.
HDDS measures the quality of a diet from the number of different food groups consumed (as
opposed to the number of different foods consumed). The following set of 12 food groups is the
basis for calculating the HDDS.
Table 1: List of 12 food groups considered by HDDS
No. Food group
1 Cereals (maize, bread, …)
2 Roots and tubers (cassava, macabo, …)
3 Vegetables
4 Fruits
5 Meat, poultry, offal
6 Eggs
7 Fish, crustaceans, …
8 Groundnuts/pulses/legumes/nuts …
9 Milk and milk products
10 Oils/fats
11 Sugar/honey
12 Coffee/tea/condiments ...
5. Methodology
The survey was applied to 75 women gathered during village meetings for the regular monitoring of
NTFP activities implemented by SNV in 6 community forests around the town of Yokadouma. The
map below shows the 7 villages where the survey was undertaken.

7
Figure 3: Map showing the seven villages where the surveys took place
The survey focused on households unable to adequately provide for the household. It turned out
that this was the case for all households. The purpose of the survey was to identify the months in
which there is limited access to food, regardless of the source of the food (i.e., production, purchase,
or barter) and to determine the number of food groups consumed by household members during
the course of one day. The questionnaire was applied to the adult person responsible for food
preparation in the household. In all cases these were women. The questionnaire gathered data on
the food needs of the household as a whole, not any single member of the household.
The data was collected during early May which for most households fell within the period of greatest
food shortage. Applying the questionnaire during this period helped to increase the accuracy of
recall of the months when the household did not have sufficient food. For MAHFP the recall period
was 12 months. The HDDS recall period was 24 hours. The questionnaire was anonymous. Annex 1
presents the questionnaire.
6. Results and analysis
It was found that generally households consumed 2 meals per day, in the morning and in the
evening. Not infrequently the morning meal constituted the left-overs of the evening meal. The
Mbol 2
Okak
Mboy 2
Ngatto
Adjela
Zokadiba
Gribé

8
detailed results of the survey are presented in three sections below: the months of adequate
household food provisioning (MAHFP), the household dietary diversity scores (HDDS) and a section
on accessibility of specific food groups.
6.1 Months of adequate household food provisioning
All the communities surveyed depend both on household agricultural production and the forest for
their food supply. The results show that all communities suffered from food insecurity during
periods varying from 4 to 7 months of the year. A difference was noted between villages located in
three different directions from Yokadouma with regard to the lengths of periods during which they
experienced inadequate food access. Villages to the West had the shortest period, those to the
South the longest period and the village to the East suffered two periods of inadequate access (see
table below).
Table 2: Duration and periods of difficulty of food access in 7 villages at different distances from Yokadouma
Village names Distance and direction
from Yokadouma
No. of months of
food insecurity
Periods of food
insecurity
Mbol 2, Okak 54 km to the West 4-6 months December to May
Adjela, Ngatto,
Zokadiba, Gribé
36-75 km to the South 5-7 months December to July
Mboy 2 53 km to the East 7 months Two periods:
March to May
July to October
The detailed results for each group are presented below.
6.1.1 Mbol 2 and Okak villages
Difficulty of food access in these two villages peaks during the dry season (December to March) and
extends to the month of May for some households. Women said that during this period plantain is
not in production, so the population depends heavily on cassava roots. The usual diet at this time of
year consists of cassava leaves in a groundnut sauce eaten with boiled cassava roots. A minority of
women however responded they did not have access to groundnuts/cucurbitaceae for the sauce.
Many women said there was no money at this time of the year to buy complementary foodstuffs.
The diagram below shows the months of food insecurity in the two villages surveyed.

9
Figure 4: Months of inadequate food access in the villages of Mbol 2 and Okak
6.1.2 Adjela, Ngatto, Zokadiba and Gribé villages
The women of these villages said that they sometimes buy food stuffs like beans, tomato, oil and
salt, to complement and enrich their diet. The food insecure period covers the dry season
(December to March) and extends well into the rainy season, month of May for most households,
and even into July for those households with the most difficulties. The food insecure period peaks
during the months of February to May. Women explained that it is only after June/July that NTFP
sales occur, allowing households to buy complementary foods. The diagram below shows the
months of food insecurity for the four villages.
Figure 5: Months of inadequate food access in the villages of Adjela, Gribé, Zokadiba and Ngatto
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Percentageofrespondents
Months
Months of inadequate food access
CF Mirebe’e, Village:
Mbol 2
CF Mirebe’e, Village:
Okak
0
20
40
60
80
100
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Months
CF Zenkadjel, Village:
Adjela
CF Bogrissom, Village:
Gribé
CF Mbielabot, Village:
Zokadiba
CF Bénaka, Village:
Ngatto

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6.1.3 Mboy 2 village
For the population of Mboy 2 there are two periods
during which it suffers from difficulty of food access.
The first period is from March to May. By March the
money from last year’s NTFP production is finished
while the new NTFP season has not started yet.
Consequently women do not have money to buy
complementary foods, including meat. The second
period occurs from July to October. During this period
groundnuts are not in production and it is also the
period when rainfall is heavy and women have difficulty
drying their cassava couscous. The diagram below
shows the periods of inadequate food access in this
village.
Figure 7: Months of inadequate food access in the village of Mboy 2
6.2 Household dietary diversity score
The standard HDDS questionnaire was adapted slightly to make it appropriate to the local context. It
was found that, during the period of the survey, none of the responding households had consumed
any cereals, including maize. The food group “Cereals” was therefore replaced by “Plantain”, which
was found to be a major staple but did not have a place in the questionnaire. This was justified by
the fact that, although a staple, plantain is essentially different from the food group “Roots and
tubers”, and provides different micronutrients. In addition, a departure from the regular HDDS form
was made by adding an extra question on the consumption of NTFPs. NTFPs were however not
considered to be a separate food group, rather they fitted in with one or another of the existing food
groups (e.g. bush mango and njansang fitted in with the food group legumes and nuts, moabi oil
with the food group oils/fats and wild mushroom with the food group vegetables). Names, pictures
0
20
40
60
80
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Months
CF Bibimbo 2, Village:
Mboy 2
Figure 6: Mboy 2 is a village typical for the zone; it is
surrounded by forest

11
and uses of common NTFPs collected in the area surveyed are given in Annex 2. The HDDS scores per
village are presented in the table below.
Table 3: HDDS scores per village and average score
Community
forest
Mirebe’e Zenkadjel Bogrissom Mbielabot Bénaka Bibimbo Average
score all
villagesVillage Mbol 2 Okak Adjela Gribé Zokadiba Ngatto Mboy 2
HDDS score 2.9 4.0 4.0 1.8 3.6 3.3 5.3 3.6
The average HDDS of all villages was found to be 3.6. The value of 3.6 means that during the 24-hour
recall period households had consumed on average 3.6 different food groups from a total of 12
possible food groups. This constitutes a low score indicating diets with little diversity.
The table also shows that HDDS scores varied from village to village. Gribé attained the lowest score
with 1.8. This village is remotely located, at 75 km from Yokadouma, on a little travelled narrow
forest road. Considering that the period of difficulty of food access for Gribé tapers off in the month
of May (only 20% of Gribé respondents saying they had difficulty to access food), this may be an
indication that even during periods of improved food access the dietary diversity in this village may
be particularly low.
The highest HDDS score of 5.3 was obtained at Mboy 2 which is situated at 2km from the border
with the Central African Republic along a relatively wide and good forest road with regular traffic5
.
Mboy 2 also has a weekly market on Saturdays. It is likely that these factors contribute to higher
food accessibility and a relatively high HDDS score. Considering that May was recorded as the month
of greatest food insecurity in Mboy 2 (more than 60% of respondents said they experienced
difficulty to access food) this may be an indication that the dietary diversity during other times of the
year may be quite high.
6.3 Notes on accessibility of specific food groups
The percentages of respondents per village whose households had consumed specific food groups
and NTFPs during the 24-hour recall are presented in the table below.
5
It must be noted however that the border crossing was recently closed due to the precarious political situation in CAR.
However this seemed to have had limited impact on the local population which continues to cross the border because the
same tribe/families live on either side.

12
Table 4: Percentage of respondents per village whose households had consumed each of 12 food groups, and NTFPs,
during a 24-hour recall period
No Food group Percentage of respondents’ households having consumed the food group/NTFP
CF Mirebe’e CF
Zenkadjel
CF
Bogrissom
CF
Mbielabot
CF
Bénaka
CF
Bibimbo
Average
all
villagesMbol 2 Okak Adjela Gribé Zokadiba Ngatto Mboy 2
1 Plantain 58 33 38 75 88 55 17 52
2 Roots 38 83 63 25 13 45 83 50
3 Vegetables 96 100 69 50 75 55 100 78
4 Fruits 4 33 75 0 50 27 17 29
5 Meat 13 0 38 0 38 45 83 31
6 Eggs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 Fish 13 50 44 25 25 27 50 33
8 Nuts/legumes 63 50 25 0 50 64 83 48
9 Milk products 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 Oil 0 50 50 0 25 9 100 33
11 Sugar/honey 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
12 Coffee/tea 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
NTFPs 0 33 25 0 13 36 50 22
The results shown in this table are discussed below in separate sections on staple foods, protein-rich
foods, vegetables and fruits.
6.3.1 Staple foods
Plantains and cassava form the staple food of the communities, with 100% of the respondents
stating that their families had consumed either one or the other and a small percentage having
consumed both during the last 24 hours. The data suggests that plantains and cassava are consumed
in equal proportions (half of the households).
It is to be noted that a small number of respondents (7%), from the villages of Mbol 2 and Gribé, had
consumed staples without an accompanying dish due to lack of access to any other food, whether
vegetables, legumes/nuts, meat and fish. Some women falling within this 7% group had prepared a
“tisane” by boiling small wild fruits giving a very bitter tasting liquid which was spiced with pepper
and consumed with the staple.
6.3.2 Protein-rich foods
The food group nuts/legumes was consumed by almost half of the respondents’ household
members. In the majority of cases the specific food consumed was groundnut which was ground and
mixed with cassava leaves to form a sauce. In a minority of cases the NTFPs telem or njansang were
used instead of groundnut. These NTFPs are similarly ground and mixed to thicken the sauce. When
asked why women did not cook beans they replied that there was no money to buy them; women
had tried to cultivate legumes but had been unsuccessful as the plants had been eaten by wild
animals.
Meat was consumed in the households of one third of the respondents. In all cases this consisted of
bushmeat including monkey/ape, porcupine and small antilope. The majority of women had
purchased the meat from hunters.
Fish and crustaceans (river shrimp) were consumed by the households of one third of the
respondents. In all cases it concerned catch from the wild and thus constitutes an NTFP; higher

13
scores for consumption of this food group were obtained in villages where a river flowed nearby (e.g
Adjela).
A total of 53% of the respondents had prepared a meal with animal protein (meat and/or
fish/crustaceans). None of the respondents had prepared eggs. Similarly none of the respondents
reported that the family had consumed insects, larvae or snails. It must be noted that it was an
omission to not probe for these foods.
6.3.3 Vegetables and fruits
Around 80% of respondents’ household members had meals including vegetables. In the vast
majority of cases the vegetable consisted of cooked cassava leaves (which are particularly rich in
vitamin A)6
. Occasionally other leafy vegetables had been prepared including “folon” (Amaranthus
hybridus) and “zom” (Solanum nigrum or black nightshade). In some cases respondents had
prepared the NTFP “koko” (gnetum spp) which was mostly consumed in uncooked form (cut into
slivers and seasoned with salt and pepper). Mostly vegetable dishes were prepared, as mentioned
above, with ground groundnut and in some cases “enriched” with wild mushroom (NTFP) and oil.
Fruits were consumed by around one third of the respondents. The most common fruits included
banana and papaya. The mango season had not started yet. It must be noted that it was an omission
to not probe for the consumption of forest fruits (NTFPs).
6.3.4 Oils and fats
The women from the villages with the lowest HDDS scores (Mbol 2 and Gribé) said they had not
prepared any dish using oil during the last 24 hours. The women of Mbol 2 explained this by saying
they do not cook with oil because they do not have naturally occurring oil palms. They said it is their
custom to live from what the forest provides; therefore they do not have a tradition of planting oil
palm. However they do sometimes purchase palm oil but they currently did not have the money to
do so. Women of Okak, a few kilometres down the road from Mbol 2, did have oil palm and had
palm oil on sale during the survey.
Other sources of oil are the moabi (but due to logging this resource is now rare in the villages
surveyed) and oil extracted from bush mango during processing into oil cake (only available during
the bush mango season in July-August).
6.3.5 Food groups not or rarely consumed
With the exception of one respondent who had prepared food from the food group “sugar/honey”,
none of the other respondents had touched this food group. Similarly, there were no cases recorded
where women had prepared food using food from the food groups “milk/milk products” or
“coffee/tea/condiments”.
6.3.6 NTFPs
An average of 22% of the respondents had prepared food incorporating (non-animal) NTFPs. These
NTFPs included fresh mushrooms, njansang (from last year’s stock), fresh gnetum spp and fresh
telem/timbi. The telem/timbi is a low yielding variety of bush mango which produces just before the
high yielding variety ripens; it was in production during the period of the survey. For other NTFPs the
period of this survey corresponded with the off-season.
6
The leaves we eat, J.M. Bailey, 1992. South Pacific Commission.

14
The respondents said that during the production seasons of njansang and bush mango these
products are frequently consumed in all households. Both njansang and bush mango have high oil
contents and are likely to also have high protein contents. Both form the basis for (thick) sauces to
which are added vegetables, meat and/or fish. It is probable that both contribute significantly to the
diets of forest communities during and just after the harvest seasons (4-5 months of the year).
Adding bushmeat and fish/crustaceans caught from the wild to the list of NTFPs, 67% of all
respondents reported to have prepared a meal containing NTFPs during the last 24 hours. This is a
high percentage and illustrates the reliance of communities on forest products.
The photos below show four NTFP-based meals prepared by women in the villages where the survey
took place. These meals are not representative of the everyday meals prepared by the respondents
for their households, rather they are examples of meals prepared for special occasions.
Figure 8: Photos of four NTFP-based meals
Antilope in telem/timbi sauce with mashed cassava Antilope in njangsang sauce with whole cassava
Forest hog with pounded plantain Monkey in groundnut sauce with whole plantain
7. Conclusion and discussion
This section presents and discusses the conclusions of the survey, with emphasis on the months of
adequate household food provisioning and dietary diversity, the consumption patterns for the
different food groups investigated and the place of NTFPs in the diets of the forest communities
surveyed. In addition a short paragraph explores the relationship between women’s status, health,

15
nutrition and agriculture as a prelude to the next section which aims to develop the contours of a
project linking NTFPs, nutrition and agriculture.
7.1 Food provisioning and dietary diversity
Poor monotonous diets low in quantity and quality in terms of nutrient content, variety, diversity
and food safety lead to hunger and malnutrition. This MAHFP and HDDS survey shows that forest
communities in the villages surveyed suffer from lack of access to food for between 4 and 7 months
of the year. The survey also shows that the diet of the populations, with an average score of 3.6,
lacks diversity7
.
The survey was overwhelmingly focused on the Bantu population (97% of the respondents were
Bantu) because the survey was carried out during the course of a SNV monitoring mission targeting
mostly Bantu villages. To gain insight into the diets of the Baka pygmy population a more concerted
effort would need to be undertaken. While this should not be taken to be in any way representative,
the two Baka respondents in the survey scored an average HDDS of 2.5 and mentioned only the
months of April and May to be months where food access was problematic for them.
Nutrition sensitive agriculture approaches address the problem of monotonous diets by focusing on
making more foods available.
7.2 Consumption patterns for different food groups
Food consumption differed from household to household. Half (53%) of the respondents had
prepared meals containing animal protein while 7% had offered their families only meals consisting
of just a staple (plantain and/or cassava). Groundnuts are an important source of plant protein and
were consumed by just under half of the households during the 24-hour recall period. Oil-rich seeds
like njansang and telem also constituted sources of plant protein.
Cassava leaves were a very common vegetable, consumed by the majority of the households. A few
other leafy vegetables, including the NTFP “koko” were also found to be consumed. Consumption of
other than leafy green vegetables was as good as non-existent.
Fruits were consumed by one third of the households. Oil seems to be a luxury food. All the
respondents from 2 villages said they had been unable to prepare meals using oil.
7.3 The place of NTFPs in the diets of forest communities
NTFPs form an important resource for forest communities to diversify their diets. They are
consumed both in quantity and diversity. NTFPs were found to span 8 of the 12 food groups
surveyed8
. Non-animal NTFPs were used in the preparation of meals by 22% of the respondents
during the period constituting the off-season for most NTFPs. Where NTFPs of animal source are
included the figure of 22% rose to 67% (this is without counting possible consumption of
insects/larvae/snails). The figures show the huge dependence of forest communities on the forest as
a direct source of food. Where NTFPs are commercialised and the revenue used (seasonally) by
women to buy food, the dependency on NTFPs only increases further!
7
While these results show trends in food access of forest communities, they should also be treated with some care due to
the relatively low samples of respondents in some villages.
8
Exceptions are the following food groups: plantain, roots and tubers, eggs and milk/milk products.

16
Research suggests that besides a source of protein, forest foods are particularly important for
provision of micronutrients including vitamin A and iron9
. It can be safely assumed therefore that
they play an important role in reducing or preventing malnutrition.
7.4 Women’s status, health, nutrition and agriculture
There is strong evidence that improved family health and nutrition is attributable to improvements
in women’s status. For example, increasing women’s time available for child care, impacts positively
on child health and nutritional status. In agriculture, nutrition can be particularly impacted by
increasing women’s discretionary income and reducing women’s time and labour constraints10
.
8. Recommendations
This section seeks to make the link between NTFPs, nutrition, agriculture and food security in forest
communities. It presents the contours of an agriculture project in line with “nutrition sensitive
agriculture”, as described in section 2 of this report.
Improving food security can be achieved through narrowing the gap between current and potential
production yields. Similarly, improving nutrition security can be achieved by narrowing the “nutrition
gap” i.e. the gap between current food intake patterns and intake patterns that are optimal in terms
of macro and micronutrient content. Narrowing the nutrition gap means increasing the availability,
access and actual consumption of a diverse range of foods. This survey has assessed and identified
some of the nutrition gaps of forest communities and proposes the following actions to close those
gaps:
• Increasing food production
• Reducing agro/food losses
• Increasing the quality of food supply by safeguarding nutritional quality along the nutrition
value chain
• Improving the food system
• Consumer education and awareness raising to improve consumption through informed
choices.
The project’s goal is to reduce the high nutritional dependency of forest communities on NTFPs by
improving food access from alternative sources. The envisaged results are improved food security,
improved incomes and improved nutrition, at the same time generating ecosystem services by
decreasing pressure on the forest.
Gender inequality in agriculture is based on unequal access to productive resources and inputs,
hampers rural development. To attain food security and sustainable agricultural development it is
therefore imperative to enhance the status of women in the rural production system, as well as in
the family and society. This project aims to adopt an approach of women’s empowerment through
targeted agricultural interventions impacting on women’s income and, as much as possible, on
9
B. Powell, Centre for International Research on Forests (CIFOR). See: http://blog.cifor.org/14882/forest-foods-should-be-
used-in-fight-against-global-malnutrition-scientist/
10
Improving nutrition through multisectoral approaches, agriculture and rural development, World Bank, 2012.

17
women’s labour and time (Annex 3 gives a visual impression of time and labour spent by women in
collecting and processing NTFPs).
The table below present the nutrition and (possible) agriculture outcomes for the project as well as
potential focus areas for interventions and their expected effect on women’s income, labour and
time.
Table 5: Nutrition and agriculture outcomes, potential focus areas and envisaged effect on women’s income, labour and
time
Closing the
nutrition gap
Closing the food security gap Envisaged effect on women’s
income, labour and time
Nutrition
outcomes
Agriculture
outcomes
Potential focus areas
Dietary
diversity
Improved
household food
provisioning
Valorisation of
NTFPs
• Domestication of
gnetum, bush mango,
njansang, moabi*…
Increases income and decreases
labour and time in the long term
(when tree crops start to
produce)
• Timesaving equipment
for NTFP processing (see
annex 4 for already
existing equipment)
Decreases labour and time
• Technologies to improve
quality and food safety,
and decrease losses
Increases income (better prices,
fewer losses)
Homestead/
school gardens
• Cultivation of
vegetables, legumes,
fruits, oil palm, NTFPs
Increases income (possibility to
sell or barter)
Improved
livestock raising
• Raising poultry,
goats/pigs in pens, goat
milk (?), fish ponds, cane
rat,…
• Control of zoonotic
diseases
Increases income (possibility to
sell or barter)
Increased
cereal
production
Production of maize
varieties with improved
production, nutritional
value and longer
production season
Increased
production of
bio-fortified
crops
E.g. production of cassava
varieties high in vitamin
A/zinc
Improved food
system
Promotion of roadside
sales, markets, sharing
products, selling and
buying between villages
Increases income
*) There is a Japanese research project currently studying moabi regeneration in CF Bogrissom. The moabi tree starts to
produce seed after 50-70 years, it is heavily logged and only a few specimens are left in the area.

18
The activities presented in the table above can all be termed as “nutrition sensitive”. Their effect will
be enhanced with messages on nutrition and home economics to ensure consumer education and
awareness raising for informed choices on household diet. These messages will focus on e.g.
• Diets for specific age groups, notably children (see Annex 5 for the determinants of child
nutrition and interventions to address them).
• Promotion of particularly healthy micro-nutrient rich (indigenous) foods11 12
.
• Improved food utilisation.
• Budget management with the aim to ensure availability of year-round household budgets
for purposes of nutrition and health13
.
Nutrition sensitive agricultural activities can be further enhanced with a water and sanitation
component, which was found to be a priority in most villages14
. Potable water and sanitation have a
positive effect on nutrition and health outcomes15
and is also an important contributor to saving
women’s time and labour.
Lastly, it is important that the project integrates in its results framework both gender analyses to
determine women’s time use and labour time requirements, and food consumption indicators to
monitor consumption trends affecting the incidence of chronic diseases.
11
Partnership with Helen Keller International (HKI) could be explored. HKI is present in Cameroon, it runs the program
“Enhanced Homestead Food Production (EHFP)” in Burkina Faso. EHFP helps communities to establish technically-
improved local food production systems by creating gardens yielding micronutrient-rich fruits and vegetables year-round,
complemented with poultry and small livestock production and nutrition behaviour change communication.
12
This could include the compilation of women’s NTFP-based and other local recipes into a booklet. An interesting partner
for this would be “Slow food” (www.slowfood.org) which seeks to promote the wealth of local gastronomic traditions, in
the defence of food biodiversity and in support of smallholder farmers and producers. They do this through diverse actions
including inventories of local, indigenous and underutilized species important for food security, facilitating market access,
shortening food supply chains etc.
13
It was apparent during SNV monitoring visits that whereas women were increasing their incomes significantly through
the sales of NTFPs, they were unable to make the income last through the year. The income was available to buy food, pay
for education and pay for health services during and right after the period when it was earned but a few months later,
none was left. In some cases this was because the money was invested in (big) projects like house construction, household
furniture and household utensils. During the survey the matter of managing for a year-round household budget was raised
a few times.
14
Most villages visited did not have improved water points; instead women collected water from (unprotected) natural
sources which were sometimes quite distant and in one village was said to be the cause of frequent bloody diarrhoea for
all inhabitants, both big and small. National statistics indicate that 50% of households in rural areas lack access to improved
water points (the national figure is 29%), 78% do not have improved latrines (national 64%), 18% of children less than 5
years of age suffer from diarrhoea (national 21%) - personal communication with UNICEF staff.
15
Discussions with medical staff in the Yokadouma area indicated that among the most frequent diseases feature malaria,
diarrhoea and dysentery, respiratory infections and parasitical infections. All of these potentially have underlying causes
relating to malnutrition/undernutrition and lack of sanitation. Women mentioned visceral hernia as a frequent cause of
sickness, attributed to hard physical labour.

19
Annex 1: Questionnaire
Fill up the following questionnaire with a 1 or 0 where:
Yes = 1
No = 0
Name of FC :……………………………………………….
Name of village :…………………………….………..……...
Date :………………………………….……………
Respondent number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
I would like to ask you about your household’s food supply during
different months of the year. Please think back over the last 12
months, from now to the same time last year.
Were there months, in the past 12 months, in which you did not have
enough food to meet your family’s needs?
May
April
March
February
January
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
Respondent number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
I would like to ask you about the types of foods that you or anyone
else in your household ate yesterday during the day and at night.
1 Plantain or any food made from plantain
2 Any cassava, macabo, yam, sweet potatoe, or any other foods
from roots or tubers
3 Vegetables
4 Fruits
5 Any bushmeat, pork, goat, chicken, duck, or other birds, liver,
kidney, heart, or other organ meats
6 Eggs
7 Any fresh or dried fish or shellfish
8 Any foods made from dried beans, groundnut or nuts
9 Any milk, yogurt or other milk products
10 Any foods made with oil
11 Sugar or honey
12 Any other foods, such as condiments, coffee, tea
Any NTFP

20
Annex 2: Common NTFPs (plants) collected in the surveyed villages
*) Not commercialised, used in Mboy 2 village.
With the exception of “Ebaye” all the NTFPs shown above contribute to the diets of the communities
surveyed. Ebaye is sold to the Nigerian market where it constitutes a food but its exact utilisation
there is not known to the women of the surveyed villages.
Local name Latin name Use
Ndo’o, bush mango Irvingia gabonensis Seeds used to thicken soup, sometimes oil is extracted
Njansang Ricinodendron heudelotii Seeds used to thicken soup, sometimes oil is extracted
Talala, quatre côté Tetrapleura teraptera Pulp used in soup
Moabi Baillonela toxisperma Oil extraction from seeds (cooking oil)
Koutou Pleurotus tuber-regium King tuber mushroom, used as a vegetable
Black pepper Piper guineensis Seeds are a spice
Kemmo ? Seeds used in soup
Mbo ? Seeds used in soup
Koko, okok, eru Gnetum spp Leaves used as a vegetable
Tondo, rondelles Scorodophloeus zenkeri Seeds are a spice
Cola Cola spp Seeds chewed, used as a stimulant
Ebaye Pentacletra macrophylla Not consumed locally but sold to the Nigerian market
Bush mango Njansang Talala Moabi
Koutou Black pepper Kemmo* Mbo*
Koko Rondelles Cola Ebaye

21
Annex 3: Visual presentation of time/labour spent by women
collecting and processing NTFPs
Koko
Collection in the forest (often
camping out several days)
Binding (for sales) Slicing (for household
consumption or sales)
Bush mango
Collection in the forest (often
camping out several days)
Splitting the fruit Removing the seeds
Drying Pounding Pressing into cake
Koutou (king tuber mushroom)
Collection in the forest Removing the mushrooms (food) Drying the tuber (for sale)

22
Fish
Cleaning Drying and smoking Finished product
Njansang
Going to the forest (often camping out
several days)
Collection of the fruit Rotting, drying and cooking
Shelling using a large nail Drying Proud woman with her
finished product

23
Moabi
Going to the forest (sometimes
camping several days)
Shelling after removing the seed
from the fruit and drying
Grilling the seed
Pounding Grinding Sieving
Heating a pan with water Removing the water Sliding ground seed to heated pan
Turning the ground mass to heat it Kneading to separate the oil Squeezing to remove the oil
Removing the oil to a separate pan Heating the oil to remove toxicity Oil starts to froth when hot
Cooling then skimming the toxic
skin
Separating the clean oil from the
toxic parts
Moabi oil: the finished product

24
Talala
Going to the forest Collecting fruits Cutting the fruit
Removing the skin Drying the flesh The end product

25
Annex 4: Labour and timesaving equipment for NTFP processing
Manual oil press
Used to press oil from moabi
Built by a villager in Kongo
village (Lomié area)
Shelling machine running on
diesel
Used to shell njansang
Built by ICRAF and present at
Mintoum village (Lomié area)
Manual splitting machine
Used split bush mango fruits
Designed and built by an
earlier SNV project and
present in the Djoum area

26
Annex 5: Determinants of child nutrition and interventions to address
them
From: Improving nutrition through multisectoral approaches, agriculture and rural development”, 2012. World Bank.
A note on breastfeeding:
Nutritional stunting is the biggest component of malnutrition with, in the vast majority of cases, the
actual insult taking place during the first 2 years of life. Optimal breastfeeding is the only way to
achieve substantial improvements in infant and young child nutrition. Clearly, breastfeeding falls
outside the field of agriculture; yet, agricultural projects can impact significantly on breastfeeding
practices, both positively and negatively.
Particularly important in a low-income rural context is that the fact that to ensure that other project
components targeting improved nutrition are effective, mothers have to spend adequate time with
their infants and young children to breastfeed. Breastfeeding does not take much of the mother's
time but requires her physical presence. Complementary feeding is often not an option as it requires
adequate caregiver time, expertise and availability of nutritious and clean foods. Agricultural
projects need to ensure that they do not increase women’s work load and do not impede the
physical presence of mother and infant.

27
Text available under a Creative Commons license (http://creativecommons.org)
Text: Judith van Eijnatten/SNV, Maguy Belobo Belibi/SNV
Photographs: Judith van Eijnatten/SNV
The text in this document can be used on condition that credit is given to
SNV Netherlands Development Organisation

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