ANVIL is currently engaged in two active programmes in Cameroon: (i) capacity building and livelihood improvement through the MSAL Cooperative Society in Ngombo-mbeng village and (ii) improvement of the value of Essosong plantation land, in Ndom village, to attract large scale investment. Please explore The Anvil Programme menu.
Please support the Anvil programmes by clicking on the DONATE menu.
A brief history
In 2007, ANVIL organised a survey of villages in a remote region of Cameroon; the mountain-rainforest region of Kupe Muaneguba (KM). The survey introduced us to an active and resourceful population with clear ambitions but who face formidable difficulties:
The difficulties:
- Water supplies that fail;
- The difficulty of getting an economic price for their crops;
- Difficulty of access to markets because of the poor condition of tracks and bridges;
- Chronic under-funding of village schools, clinics and other facilities;
- Poor crop yields and epidemics that weaken or kill livestock.
see GALLERY for survey photos
- Farming activities in Kupe Muaneguba
- People living in the Bakossi region of the KM
- Buildings and other features of the villages
- Work activities in the community
- Travel in Kupe Muaneguba
- Water and water usage in the region
In the West, we take for granted our roads, railways, water and electricity, hospitals and universities; and in Europe, a high level of social welfare is at hand. Virtually all of this investment in infrastructure has happened over the past 200 years. This infrastructure enables western civilization to keep going.
Infrastructure should be a priority when aiding the third world societies. It is easier for agencies to raise funds for the symptoms of poverty, rather than help build structures upon which local wealth can develop.
ANVIL organises long-term projects for the development of social capital and to protect the common land of the community. We believe this approach helps communities in rural Africa to prosper, to resist exploitation, to be resilient and be competitive in times of economic hardship.