HVAP - High Value Agricultural Products
The African Way High Value Agricultural Products - HVAP Program was designed within the limits of the Paris COP21 Agreements and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Through building community partnerships we intend to unite forces with several professional partners, to connect agrifood system change with efforts to place sustainability at the heart of bottom up global supply.
The African Way HVAP Program is designed to further improve and expand Permaculture the African Way, concept developed by Bafut Ecovillage that has already created impact across the globe, most of which has originated from its climate adaptation, ecosystems and biodiversity, forests, and water catchment development approach, to name a few.
The aim is To prototype HVAP as a peace-centered and community-empowering program and a proven formula for setting up a green and inclusive economy with nature-based solutions, which will transform food and natural cosmetics networks, and create sustainable and resilient livelihoods for many along supply chains, while also preventing loss of biodiversity and food sovereignty.
In addition, we also aim to formulate and formalize partnership agreements with national and international Universities that will allow scientific investigation and testing in the fields of Regenerative Systems, Integral Design (appropriate technology to complement indigenous knowledge and practices), African Indigenous Practices, Natural Cosmetics, Hygiene and Health Products, and Agroecological Practices.
Experience already concretized in the HVAP program at Bafut Ecovillage
The HVAP Program is addressing the issues of poverty, poor health and decent jobs. These challenges are being experienced by farmers in the local communities of Bafut but especially by the youth and women in these communities. These are however general issues which are threatening not only the local farmers, the youth and the women but majority of the local population.
So far, this program is improving living standards of farmers where in up to 5 women groups with over 230 members through the Cooperative set up by Better World Cameroon as they are being trained on sustainable farming techniques and are taught to grow high value agricultural products using these techniques. The local cooperative (BetterCOOP) created by Better World Cameroon helps to sell these products by promoting fair trade and limiting middleman influence thereby making the local farmers get what they deserve from international partners, shops and super market owners.
African Way HVAP is designed to integrate the rural poor, especially women, refugees and marginal groups in the cultivation, transformation and marketing of Non Timber Forestry Products (NTFPs); medicinal and Aromatic Plants in the fair trade market, to improve income, employment opportunities and the ability to respond to market demand and opportunities based on marketing agreements with private agribusiness.
The African Way HVAP practice will support the implementation of the strategy through coordination and integration across teams, practices and portfolios to maximize impact, share lessons, set up crowdfunding and scale up both reach, and impact, on the ground.