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Agriculture
The last thirty
years have witnessed a revolution in our understanding of the
origins of agriculture. What was once seen as a pattern of
unilateral human exploitation of domesticated crops and animals
has been described as a pattern of co-evolution and mutual
domestication between human beings and their various
domesticates.
Moreover,
the adoption of agriculture was, by all accounts, the
coalescence of a long, gradual series of distinctive and often
independent behaviors. Techniques used by hunter-gatherers to
increase food supplies, long before farming, included the use of
fire to stimulate new growth; the protection of favorite plants;
sowing seeds or parts of tubers without domestication; preparing
soils; eliminating competitors; fertilizing; irrigation;
concentration of plants; controlling growth circles; expansion
of ranges; and ultimately domestication.
By this definition,
domestication means altering plants genetically to live in
proximity to human settlements, enlarging desired parts,
breeding out toxins, unpleasant tastes, and physical barriers to
exploitation – in short. Getting plant to respond to human
rather than natural selection.
In Manyu country,
agriculture, which is primarily the main stay, could be said to
be practiced on a two-pronged approach – subsistence and
industrial. Categorization of farmers into one or the other
categories may not be an easy sell. The demarcation line between
subsistence and industrial agriculture, which at best, could be
said to be blurred because most, if not all farmers, practice a
combination of both, manifests this.
Even the
eighty-year-old grand mother who grows umkpong (green
vegetables) does not consume all of her produce. She either
carries the excess to the local market for sale or displays it
on a stall in front of her home where would-be-buyers stop by to
make their purchase.
On the other hand,
the last thirty years have also witnessed an explosion in
large-scale agricultural production. Cash crops like cocoa,
coffee, coconuts (tamagha), oranges (nsukuru), palms and palm
produce, bush mangoes (nsenghe), egusi (nkwai), plantains (ekwa),
banana (nsureh ekwa), etc are now produced in large-scale. The
proceeds from these endeavors are used to solve a variety of
problems like payment of tuition fees for students, building of
permanent residential homes, improvement of quality of life,
etc.
CASH CROPS
The
major cash crops Manyu farmers plant include but not limited to the
following
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Banana (nsureh ekwa or nkondon) |
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Cocoa (kaka) |
Cocoa is a very
profitable cash crop. In Upper Banyang area, Sumbe, Mbang, Fotabe
appear to produce the most cocoa.
Cocoa appears to have come to Manyu like cassava, from
(Fernandopo) Equatorial Guinea, an island country off the coast
of Cameroon. A lot of Manyu people went back and
forth from this Island nation due to trade and other filial obligations. It is believed the Portuguese brought
cocoa here from South America. Cocoa is planted, the fruits
harvested, the beans dried and sold. There are no
large scale plants that process cocoa into chocolate and other related products that takes place in Manyuland.
Kids have also been Known to use their ingenuity to make toy soldier hats out of cocoa leaves for juvenile war games. They also suck the juicy beans out of fresh pods. |
Coffee
(koffee) |
Coffee is another profitable cash
crop. Two kinds of coffee exist, Robusta and Arabica and both
are grown in Manyuland. Like cocoa, coffee is not processed in a large scale in
Manyu. It is harvest dried and sold mostly for export.
Most of the coffee is produced by
local farmers, and the rest by large scale farmers (plantations). Lately, the agricultural landscape is changing as
the size of the farms are growing. |
Palms (baghea,
bagheab, akpei, nkale) |
The Palm tree in
Manyuland is considered as one of the most important trees God gave the
people. There is a proverb in Kenyan that questions, "Which
animal is more fatty than a palm tree? (Ntek Nyah afo achea
nghea) To fully understand why the palm tree is considered
this way, let's list its many uses. Literally speaking, in
Manyuland nothing about this tree is ever wasted, even the dead trees.
Palm fronds are used for fishing, as fishing rods, hunting,
making ceremonial decorations, a symbol of Nkpe law and
judgment, making brooms, repairing busted calabashes, as wood,
for building huts. Children use it as poles for high jump and Ngbe members use it to fence
off Ekpe trail.
During celebrations, palm wine is used
for entertainment, ceremonial drink, libations, and it is equally transformed to
alcohol or the traditional gin by destilation. The fresh palm wine has also been
used in healing and the yeast can be used for baking bread. The
palm fruit (emeh) is
used in producing palm oil (bawet emeuh)and the kernel used in
producing kernel oil (bawet amang). Manyu is largest
producer of local palm oil. Palm kernel oil has
medicinal value as it's often administered to people
believed to have swallowed or eaten certain poisonous substances.
The dead palm produces palm beetles, (ta-nayghea)and the larvae
(beakwen)is
is consumed by humans and also used as bait for fishing. Before finally
decomposing, a dead palm tree, in many cases produces mushrooms. There are many
more uses that have been associated with the palm tree. |
FOOD CROPS
Most farmers plant food crops which
they consume and sell some in the local market. The major food
crops include the following
Cassava
(egwa, cassara) |
Cassava is certainly not a native crop in
Manyu. But how it got here is not as important as how it has
become the proverbial plant. People who believe in their inner
strength sometimes compare themselves to cassava that never
dies. The ease of planting and harvesting cassava makes it a very
popular cash crop. But cassava is mostly consumed in the form
of gari. And of recent as cassava flour (kukum) and water fufu,
a form of fufu.
Manyu might well be the largest producer of gari
in Cameroon.The leaves of
cassava (bekpem) are also consumed as a vegetable.
But not as much as eru. Boiled cassava is also eaten but cassava
in the most part is planted for gari production. |
Cocoyams (nku or
nkwanyong) |
Cassava is certainly not a native crop in
Manyu. But how it got here is not as important as how it has
become the proverbial plant. People who believe in their inner
strength sometimes compare themselves to cassava that never
dies. The ease of planting and harvesting cassava makes it a very
popular cash crop. But cassava is mostly consumed in the form
of gari. And of recent as cassava flour (kukum) and water fufu,
a form of fufu.
Manyu might well be the largest producer of gari
in Cameroon.The leaves of
cassava (bekpem) are also consumed as a vegetable.
But not as much as eru. Boiled cassava is also eaten but cassava
in the most part is planted for gari production. |
Corn or Maize
(nchwui, ngaran, ngarem) |
Maize is not a staple food of
Manyu people and is seasonally planted. In Manyuland, maize is
principally boiled or roasted and eaten with plums(bakwa, aju). Manyu
people use corn in preparing koki corn (corn dough), a kind of corn pudding. But this dish appears to
the staple of the peoples of the Northwest province
and the Western province since they experts in preparing and consuming fufu corn.
Another dish that may have come from the same sources, is a dish know as
corn chaff ( moke nchwui), a mixture of corn and kidney
beans
Corn has also been used as feed for chickens. White corn as
opposed to yellow corn is the most planted in Manyuland. |
Plantains (ekwa,ehaw,behaw) |
If the palm tree is
the most important tree given to Manyu people by God, plantain
is arguably, the preferred ceremonial meal. Boiled plantains eaten with
pork, vegetables and koki beans are generally the food of choice in
ceremonies. The reason for this popularity is not only limited to its
nutritional value, but also, its ease of preparation and
sharing among attendees.
Equally important, a plantain meal
is the preferred meal to offer an elderly person. Other
meals might be misconstrued as insulting. (Example, giving an
old person fufu is often thought of as indirectly accusing the old
man of not having teeth) Plantain
leaves are used for a variety purposes. Children and adults use
them like an umbrella whenever it rains. They are used as wrap in making egusi
pudding, koki, roasted fish or as a wrap for parcels. The dried
leaves are used to make circular coils used in carrying
heavy loads on the head. Plantain peelings when place on fire are used
as warm pads against swellings and in applying alternative medication on different parts of the body.
The fresh leaves play another useful part
during traditional marriages and cases. Strands of plantain leaves are
used to represent the actual sum paid during
negotiations of dowry. The actual money is later paid to the
parties in private. This strategy seems to thwart efforts by
thieves to rob marriages while in progress. |
Yams (beayack,
eyu,beyu) |
Many varieties of yams exist in Manyuland. Some of them
are wild but others like the water yam are planted and sold to
traders and in the local market. Yam faming is predominantly undertaken by both indegenous and other
nationals mostly Nigerians living in
Manyuland. The Eyumojock sub-division may be one of the leading producers of most of the yams
sold or harvested in Manyuland.
Though there is yam fufu, Manyu people do
eat yam mostly in its boiled form. At the moment of writing, the
transformation of yams to yam flour is not done in Manyuland.
Othe parts of Cameroon produce more Yams than Manyu. And even in
these areas other nationals dominate yam farming. Yams are very
expensive and the growing of yams is labor intensive.
It should be known than, a lot of research
has been done on yam production by Ekona Research and the
USA. Yams have been found to have a higher nutritional value than Irish
potatos. |
Rice ((ericie/erisie, bako ndek)
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There is local rice grown in Manyuland. The Akwaya subdivision is
known as one of a few places in Cameroon were rice farming is done by the
indegenous population. Lately, some rice plantations have been established in the
Northwest province and other places. The Manyulanders from Akwaya had developed and perfected the science of rice
growing many centuries ago. But it must be
understood that, unlike other parts of Cameroon, the rice consumed by Manyulanders is produced
by indegenous farmers, and not imported like most of Cameroon. |
VEGETABLES
AND FRUITS
Coconut (tamagha or
tamagha ndek,mbang,mbang okarah) |
The
coconut is another plant with many uses in Manyuland.
The broom made from the coconut is special, usually
used in driving away flies. The fruit is eaten or
sold.
Before education, the coconut was planted when a
child was born. The age of the tree determined the
age of the child. And the first
harvested coconut was given to the child. Coconuts
from Manyuland are among the best in Cameroon. |
Avocados (bakwa ndek ) |
Mangoes are of two known
varieties, nsenghe ndek (white man's mangoes) and
nseng, (the bush mango). The former is planted and
the fruits are eaten or sold. The later is not
planted but grows wild in the forest. The fruit is
eaten but the seed is also used in preparing a
special soup (noke nseng). Indeed the seeds
of nseng at one time was the most profitable product
that was obtained from the forest. Now eru
is also another profitable forest product. One Manyu Village Ossing actually derived
her name from the bush mango.
Before the bush mango's
seeds are sold, they are dried. Bush Mangoes are
seasonal fruits. During the mango season we find a
lot of fruit flies. The bush mango's fruit has lots
of fiber and helps in cleaning teeth. |
Oranges (nsukuru) |
Oranges abound and do very well
in Manyuland mostly because of the sunny climate and
sufficient miosture.. They were mostly grown for
household consumption but that has all changed.
Oranges are commercially grown and the sales are
helping to grow Manyu's economy.
The skin of oranges might have
been used to clear certain skin ailments. They are
sometimes planted as age markers. |
Pineapples (emeharek) |
Pineapples like oranges do very
well in Manyuland and for the same reasons.
But pineapple production has not reached the same
production levels like oranges. The kenya name,
emeharek (the white man's palm fruit) suggests it was
introduced by Europeans to Manyuland. |
Plums (bakwa,aju) |
This is a unique fruit found
in Manyuland. And Manyu produces the best and tasty
plums you can find in Cameroon. Plums are most
commonly eaten with roasted or boiled corn, boiled
cassava, plantains cocoyams. Plums are commonly
boiled but they can be roasted also.
Plums are seasonal and highly
priced during the plum season. The pidgin name for
plums is (Bush butter) |
Beans
(amereg or bako,olawveh) |
Beans is a Manyu staple mostly eaten
in a pudding form called koki (bako bekok). It is
also a ceremonial dish because it is easy to prepare,
preserve and share.
Kidney beans (amereg) though
eaten in Manyuland is mostly obtained from Northwest
province. It is not grown in Manyuland. |
Casssava leaf
(bea cassara,bekpem) |
Though cassava is planted most for garri
making, the leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Once
these leaves have been prepared, they can be eaten
with any carbohydrate. Most Manyu people do not
think the leaves have a high nutritional value. For
this reason they are occasionally eaten. |
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Bitter leaf
(bechi or ochu)
Two types of bitter leaves exist. The bitter bitter leaf and
the sweet bitter leaf. Sweet bitter leaf (bechi) is
the one which is native to Manyu land. Bitter leaf is mostly
consumed in households. The Douala way of consuming bitter
bitter leaf (Ndole) is prepared more during ceremonies.
Both species irrespective of how they are prepared makes one
drink lots of water after eating them. In Manyuland and
Ndian it is prohibited from washing bitter leaf in a river
that has crocodiles.
Bitter leaf can be dried and
store. It is exported more in its dried form. It takes
some effort to get bitter leaf ready for consumption. It
requires the leaves sliced, washed and squeezed to remove
most of the bitterness. Salt is often used to facilitate the
process. |
Okra,
Okro
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Okra is a slimy vegetable. It is added to a special
soup called okra soup making the soup slimy. Some
people eat the soup with rice but fufu is generally
preferred. Okra makes anything easy to swallow. It
is also dried for long preservation. |
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Eru (Bea
Nsack) Eru is a vegetable that has become a national
staple. Bea Nsack is the derogatory name used by Upper
Banyang because it was the closest leaf they could liken eru
to. Eru is a vegetable gotten from the forest, easy to
prepare and only eaten with fufu in Manyuland. Other tribes
in Cameroon and Nigeria eat eru, but Manyu people have a
unique style of preparing Eru that has gained national
prominence to the point is now a cash crop. Many
restaurants in Cameroon sell exclusively Eru and fufu.
There are attempts being
made to commercially grow this vegetable. Success is
slow to come by. Huge quantities are sold to
Nigerians. |
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