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How Koloko moved from Housemaid to Agro Farming
Miss Koloko ran away from the war of secession in the North West and South West of Cameroon in 2021. She left her home in Batibo village, North West Cameroon for Douala and stayed with friends since she had no close relative to take her in.
While in Douala, Koloko who has but basic education to the job of Housemaid. The salary of a Housemaid is not encouraging, moreover Koloko’s boss was not paying her regularly. Originating from a rural area where the main economic activity was farming, Koloko thought of looking for where to carrying out farming activities in Douala. He search for farmland landed her at Sikoum village in the Council area of Dibamba.
She moved to Sikoum village some 45 kilometers out of Douala. While there, she inhabitants offered her to work on people’s land for a pay. That initially helped her get a better reward than the meagre salary that she received as a Housemaid.
When ASAFE launched the Sustaining Growth project code-named Ujek Mejek in Dibamba, ASAFE’s President, Gisele Yitamben caught up with Koloko. During their discussion, Koloko told the ASAFE’s President that she was interested in the Ujek Mejek initiative. They asked her to proceed on Passion fruit farming. ASAFE advised Koloko to look for land with trees since the fruit tree creeps and bear around the stems of other trees. Koloko sought and obtained a piece of land with overgrown palm trees whose stems will serve as breeder for the Passion fruits. ASAFE provided her with 100 seedlings that she planted. The plants billed to mature in and start bearing fruits within 8 months. The mature plants produces fruits two times a year and has a production life span of 4 years. One stem can produce 100 fruits per harvest.
On seeing Koloko’s enthusiasm, a young man of Sikoum has opted to grow a nursery of the Passion fruits plant and ASAFE has opted to provide seedlings.
The overall objective is to have 25 to 50 Passion fruits Farmers in the area and a steady supply to the urban market and even the setting up of a juice production factory to transform the raw material in the area.