For years, people in the Bamenda Highlands have harvested wild mushrooms for one month each year, and during this time people enjoy this vitamin- and protein-rich food. There is also a high demand for dried mushrooms in the commercial centres of Cameroon and in neighbouring Nigeria.
To make this important food source more widely available, Green Care staff members were trained in the cultivation of oyster mushrooms in 2014, an activity sponsored by USAID’s West Africa Food Security Project.
Just five months later, we had established our mushroom farm and seed multiplication centre, and the Shisong Mushroom Cooperative was established in 2015. This is now one of our most important activities.
Since we started the project, many people have developed an interest in mushroom cultivation. The introduction of mushrooms as a cash crop provides farmers and poorer households with a source of income that can help with the costs of school fees and medical bills.
Our next challenge is to construct a bigger production unit to meet the demand for mushrooms, seeds and mushroom-cultivation workshops. Following the success of the first workshops, sponsored in part by GlobalGiving donations, we are determined to expand our mushroom production activities further.