Cette étude de cas documente les savoirs, connaissances et pratiques indigènes et traditionnelles
en agroécologie Dans la zone forestière du Cameroun, les communautés riveraines des forêts
pratiquent l’agriculture de forêt (communément appelée agriculture itinérante sur brûlis) pour la
mise en valeur des terres (s’appuyant les champs, jachères, plantations et forêts), assurer le contrôle
social des terres et des ressources et la mobilisation des moyens d’existence nécessaires pour la
subsistance familiale. Prenant appui sur le cas des pratiques agro-écologiques dominantes dans les
régions du Centre et Sud, et sur la base de la théorie, l’observation, des entretiens et d’un atelier
d’analyse participante avec les détenteurs de ces savoirs et pratiques, l’étude explore les racines
socio-culturelles des savoirs et pratiques appliquées en agroécologie et dégage les points d’attention
qui permettraient d’actionner de nouveaux rapports et nouvelles démarches dans la prise de
décision entre les réponses scientifiques, et les trajectoires des savoirs et pratiques traditionnels et
locaux d’appui à la résilience agro-écologique. Les principaux constats se résument ainsi :
▶▶ La dégradation des terres et leur restauration font partie du cycle de vie du foncier
dont la tension se joue sur la fertilité des sols. La pratique de la jachère est la principale stratégie
utilisée à l’échelle du paysage pour assurer la durabilité et la résilience des agro-écosystèmes
alors qu’à l’échelle de parcelle, les pratiques de régénération assistée des espèces forestières
ayant une portée sur le processus de restauration des terres sont souvent mises en avant.
▶▶ Les stratégies de conservation de la biodiversité et son utilisation durable sont
déterminées par une combinaison des facteurs, y compris la définition des objectifs de vie qui
vont être croisés avec les potentialités en ressources naturelles ainsi qu’une diversité d’espèces
sauvages et cultivées ayant des semences de bonne qualité, la dotation en espèces d’arbres à
usage multiple, le statut de la propriété foncière coutumière foncière et des besoins du marché.
▶▶ Les espèces invasives font partie de l’environnement dans lesquels se développent les
savoirs et les pratiques en agroécologie. ,Elles sont représentées par une vingtaine d’espèces
végétales, animales dont les moyens de contrôle dépendent de la nature des impacts et de
leurs impacts sur la préparation des champs, leur gestion y compris les phases d’entretien et
de récolte, et la mise en jachère.
▶▶ Les indicateurs locaux mettant en avant le comportement des insectes, de certains
oiseaux et des espèces d’arbres utilisé pour interpréter les changements environnementaux
afin de prédire et d’anticiper sur les incertitudes liées aux changements environnementaux et
climatiques.
▶▶ L’étude de cas montre que l’articulation des cycles agricoles aux unités agro-écologiques est
fondée sur une démarche «agroforestière» intégrée combinant à la fois les cultures
vivrières, les arbres fruitiers domestiques et les ressources non domestiquées
(arbres et autres produits forestiers). Cette démarche est le fondement de la résilience de
systèmes agro-écologiques indigènes et traditionnels. Les points d’attention énumérées
pourraient marquer une nouvelle ère de valorisation des savoirs et traditionnels dans un
contexte dominé par les approches sur les intérêts au détriment des approches fondées sur les
droits pour la gestion durable de la biodiversité et de la vie, un défi planétaire.

This case study documents the local and traditional knowledge and practices in agroecology in
the forest areas of Cameroon. In these regions, forest-dependent communities practice forest
agriculture (commonly known as slash and burn agriculture) for agricultural production – based
on agricultural land uses, fallows, tree crop plantations and forests, ensuring social control of
lands and resources and the mobilization of financial resources for family livelihoods. Building
on the agro-ecological practices prevailing in the Centre and South regions, and on the basis of
theory, observations, interviews and participatory system analysis through a workshop with the
custodians of traditional/local knowledge and agro-ecological practices, the study explores their
socio-cultural roots and clarifies key points which would allow for new interactions in decisionmaking
between scientific responses and indigenous and traditional knowledge and practices to
support agro-ecological resilience. The main findings are summarized as follows:

On the social representation of the concepts of knowledge and practices in
agroecology
▶▶ The concepts ‘knowledge’ and ‘practices’ can have polysemic meanings in the Fang-Beti-Bulu,
Ossananga and Bassa languages compared to the French language; so there is a challenge of
intercultural communication.
▶▶ Fëg refers to an intuitive ability, prudence, foresight to insight, more related to self-organization,
and self-projection in the unknown future and its realization, while Akeñ mostly related to the
practice, appropriation of innovations and know-how. Akeñ and Fëg are complementary when
used to solve problems of their environment at the local time-scale, as a means of enhancing
resilience. To do this, it is crucial to understand the state of knowledge on adaptation; to
revive the debate on Fëg and Akeñ as a means for adaptation.
▶▶ Reading the weather allows one to interpret future changes in the environment. Therefore,
anyone in the local community who can understand the signs and knows how to interpret
them, can organize their lives in consequence.
▶▶ The past is lost, and yet, it is evocative. Take into account the past to live the present and
predict the future. These observations allow us to reconcile the past, present and future.
On land degradation and restoration
▶▶ The degradation of land and its restoration are part of the life cycle of the land, where
tension is embedded in the dynamics of soil fertility through the forest crops/fallow forests
conversion cycle.
Soil fertility is one of the key challenges in achieving life objectives and livelihoods strategies.
The practice of leaving fallow land is one of the main strategies used to restore the fertility of the
soils; each household uses a pool of land in order to maintain a spatio-temporal scale of agroecological
sustainability and resilience through the conservation of forest species, also bearing in
mind the restoration of lands and local species.
▶▶ Farmers use a multi-criteria approach to manage soil fertility in order to maintain a threshold
of balance through the forest-culture-fallow-forest conversion cycle. To achieve this, and on
the basis of its natural capital, they combine several factors such as: the age of the vegetation,
previous use of the land, and bio-indicators of soil fertility including the soil color, the activity
of worms on the lands and the presence of other indicators of soil fertility.
On the conservation and sustainable management of agricultural biodiversity
▶▶ Agricultural biodiversity includes all plant and animal species that rural households use in
their living environment for farming. More than 20 species of plants can be combined in a
single mixed field; this diversity is justified by risk management through combining varieties
of the same species with complementary agronomic and bio-ecological characteristics.
▶▶ Conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity evolves in response to life objectives, the
definition of well-being, agronomic quality, multiple uses, market needs and knowledge on
coexistence between crops and other plant species at the spatio-temporal scale.
▶▶ Crops such as peanuts (Arachis hypogea), cassava (Manihot esculenta) and the plantain banana
(Musa sp.), cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) and maize (Zea mays) are significant for wellbeing
and livelihood mobilization strategies.
▶▶ Only the forest species with multiple socio-economic uses or specific uses are kept for
agricultural use and ecological succession.
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On the management and control of invasive species
▶▶ Strategies to manage invasive species are part of the environment in which traditional
knowledge and practices are evolving, and are applied as part of agroecological practices.
▶▶ Invasive species are represented by more than 20 plant (mainly herbs and shrubs) and
animal species (mainly insects) with a few plants and insects for which the origins are more
or less known.
▶▶ Some invasive species appear to have both positive and negative impacts; the magnitude of
impact is variable depending on the environmental context, the type of agricultural land use
and former use of the land. The example of C. odorata has advantages and disadvantages that
may contradict an absolute definition of invasive species.
▶▶ Management strategies to control invasive species depend on local knowledge regarding their
ecology, and the nature and magnitude of their impact on the preparation, maintenance and
harvesting of farms, and the fallow system.
On environmental and climate uncertainties
▶▶ Environmental and climatic changes are perceived through the behaviour of local bioecological
indicators including weeds, shrubs insects, animals such as birds and trees.
▶▶ Local indicators are used to interpret changes in order to predict and anticipate uncertainties
associated with environmental and climate changes; the seasons and weather are the determining
factors for the organization of socio-economic activities necessary to achieve life goals.
▶▶ Adaptation actions are undertaken in response to environmental and climate uncertainties,
and are applied depending on the nature of the impacts and the knowledge of their causes.
▶▶ The case study shows that the articulation of the agricultural cycles to agro-ecological units
is based on an integrated “agroforestry” approach combining food crops, domestic fruit
trees and non-domesticated resources (trees and other forest products). This approach is
the foundation of the resilience of indigenous and traditional agro-ecological systems. Key
points have been listed that could mark a new era in the valuation of traditional knowledge
in a context dominated by the interest-based approaches at the expense of the rights-based
approaches for the sustainable management of biodiversity and life: a planetary challenge.