African Way – Association for Cooperation and Sustainable Development is the co-creation of Better World Cameroon - BWC NGO in the Global North
2021
On October 1, 2021, BWC NGO Team created the African Way in Portugal
2021
On January 12, 2021, soldiers raided and burned down the Bafut Ecovillage
2019
BWC NGO Team moved to Portugal due to civil war
2016
Civil war broke out in Cameroon that affected the BWC NGO
2015
Bafut Ecovillage won the Gaia Excellence Award as Africa's most inspiring project
2013
BWC NGO Team joined the Global Ecovillage Network
2012
BWC NGO created the Ndanifor Permacultura Ecovillage in Bafut
1996
BWC NGO was incorporated in Yaounde - Cameroon
Constitution of the African Way Association in Portugal
On October 1, 2021, the African Way - Association for Cooperation and Sustainable Development was officially constituted in Portugal. It took two years of intense planning, feasibility study and establishment of new partnerships so that BWC NGO projects could be co-created in the Global North.
Arrival of the BWC NGO Team in Portugal
Due to the civil war in Cameroon, since 2016, part of the Better World Cameroon - BWC NGO team was forced into exile. Portugal was the country of destination where, in 2019, with the support of the Tamera Peace Research Centre community, it was possible to continue the work previously developed out in Cameroon.
Civil War in Cameroon
Declared in 2018 by the Norwegian Refugee Council as the most neglected crisis in the world
In 2016, while we were all excited about how much progress the BWC NGO had made in its ecovillage program, after winning the Gaia Trust’s Excellence Award in 2015, a war was declared in the English-speaking region of Cameroon. The crisis rocked Bafut village and we were expelled from the beautiful Ndanifor Permaculture Ecovillage which many described as paradise on earth.
Ndanifor Permaculture Ecovillage Demonstration Center
The initial BWC Community Garden project has been expanded to an Ndanifor Permaculture Ecovillage Demonstration Center, which since 2012 is inspiring climate adaptation in Cameroon, Africa and the International Community.
Origin of BWC NGO
The story of Better World Cameroon started in 1996 when Joshua Konkankoh mobilized hundreds of unemployed graduates and students living in the slums of Yaounde city to promote land based entrepreneurship and equitable opportunities for livelihoods.
BWC NGO was registered as an umbrella youth development organization for associations and farming groups.
BWC NGO is based on a community development model that aims to:
Among the main activities developed by BWC NGO, the following stand out:
BWC NGO is dedicated to developing sustainable agricultural strategies at the local scale based on indigenous knowledge to alleviate the food crisis and extreme poverty.
BWC NGO has worked to heal young people's apathy about national life, focusing its work on re-establishing young people's connection with their land, their food sources and their cultural heritage.
BWC NGO educates people about the cruelties behind consumer goods inflicted on their brothers and sisters and on the land.
