Lahaï, Cameroon

IPA is exploring new territory

The support of groups working in the Waza-Logone plains has already led to positive results in many cases. The building of a production plant for breeding spirulina algae is a new challenge for IPA.

During a further-education course a former IPA member of staff heard of the spirulina algae and suggested that the IPA team should take up the idea of building a production plant in Cameroon. Spirulina? First of all the other members of the team had to learn what spirulina is. They found out that it is a blue-green algae which, used as a dietary supplement, could be of great value in an area where hunger and malnutrition are notorious. The algae contains a lot of vitamins and all essential amino acids. In other developing countries it has been used successfully. In particular situations spirulina is even said to have a healing effect. Well, all this sounded very interesting indeed.

But soon the first difficulties became obvious. The breeding itself is delicate. A sound knowledge and diligence are vital. Expert knowledge is rare and has to be paid for. Can you build such a production plant in a region where only few people can read and write? It turns out you can.

Only five other plants in the whole country

In Cameroon there are only five farms that produce spirulina. The one in Lahaï was going to be the sixth. A further-training course lasting several days gave a group of young, motivated men the chance to acquire the necessary theoretical and practical knowledge. The "village chief" provided a plot of land so that the building of the plant could be started. The basin had to be made smaller than planned, but this did not diminish the enthusiasm of the group. "Spirulina keeps us busy all day anyway, so we might as well grow other things at the same time", Moussa, the head of the group, said. And so the men – using their own simple tools and working extremely hard – ploughed up some fields beside the spirulina basin where onions and other vegetables are grown. There is even a fishpond. At the moment these activities also contribute financially to the production of spirulina.

An overwhelming demand

But what about the algae? Well, the first attempt failed. The strain that had been bought was infected so that only a few weeks after the launch of the plant everything had to be restarted. But finally the production began. By February 14 kilos could be harvested. The production is not profitable yet, but the beginning was clearly a success and the demand is enormous. The sachets containing 50 grams of the algae are not only sold in the neighbouring villages, but also in Maroua, the nearest bigger town.

The village also benefits

It is the village community that benefits from the project in the first place. The group regularly pays the salaries for two of the four schoolteachers. The men have ambitious plans, they are already dreaming of building a second basin. But they will have to go a long way and ignorance in the area is widespread. "Again and again people turn up who have heard that spirulina heals illnesses or eases menstruation pains. Now they want to lie down in our spirulina-basin because they have not realised that you have to eat the algae", Moussa says with a grin. But further radio programmes and an increased production will gradually do away with these misunderstandings.