Protecting springs and planting trees in Cameroon's highlands
A farmer from north-west Cameroon works with villages to protect spring catchments, build water tanks, plant trees and teach organic farming.
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The small thing
After a high school biology lesson showed him how local streams connect to the wider landscape, Tantoh Nforba became interested in watersheds. He later ran a demonstration organic garden on the Chua Chua River to teach young people and farmers.
The problem
In Cameroon's North West, many people drink from streams polluted by human and animal waste, and some walk long distances for clean water. Deforestation, soil erosion and farming and grazing moving uphill damage the springs that villages rely on.
Why Farmer Tantoh started
The Christian Science Monitor reported in 2008 that he was drawn to watersheds by a school biology class and that clean water was scarce in his rural province. He said: 'The crisis is so high here that people are dying from it every day.'
What they did
Through the Save Your Future Association (SYFA), he and local volunteers protect spring catchments with trees and fencing, build storage tanks and tap stands, and teach environmental programmes in schools, churches and prisons. Communities contribute labour and local materials.
SYFA also promotes organic farming, agroforestry and tree planting, including training farmers in agroforestry in partnership with the World Agroforestry Centre from 2008.
What changed
According to SYFA's own report on the FAO Mountain Partnership website in 2017, it had built more than 20 spring water catchments, planted over 25,000 trees and worked with ten farming groups and more than 15 environmental clubs. Its 2020 submission to MIT Solve reported over 60 tanks or wells and about 60,000 people served. These are the organisation's own figures and have not been independently verified. His story is told in a children's book, 'I Am Farmer', used in some US schools.
What they learned
SYFA's model depends on communities contributing labour and materials, and on protecting the land around a spring as well as building the tank.
“Water is life.”Dieudonné Tantoh Nforba ('Farmer Tantoh') and Save Your Future Association, as quoted by The Christian Science Monitor
Copy this idea
Practical guidance written by our editors from the sources below. Adapt it to your place, and check local rules and safety first.
- Problem addressed
- Polluted or failing village water sources
- What to do
- Protect the land around a spring with trees and fencing, and pipe water to a covered tank and tap
- Materials and resources
- Native trees, fencing, pipe, a storage tank
- Approximate cost
- Moderate
- Skills
- Basic water engineering and catchment management; seek local technical advice
- Time
- Weeks to build; years for trees to establish
- People needed
- A village water committee and volunteers
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Risks and limitations
- Contamination if catchments are not protected; disputes with farmers and herders over land use
- How to adapt it
- Start with tree planting and clean-up around a local spring or stream
- Lessons learned
- Agree catchment protection with nearby land users before building
Why it matters
Protecting a handful of springs will not solve water access across Cameroon. But keeping catchment land planted and fenced is a low-technology way to keep water cleaner at source, and community labour helps people look after what they have built.
Policy connection
International commitments this kind of action contributes to. Listing a framework does not mean the person or group was working towards it.
- SDG 6.1 and 6.4: Safe and affordable drinking water for all; increase water-use efficiency and address scarcity.
- Paris Agreement, Article 7: Enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change.
What didn't work
In his own account to MIT Solve (around 2020), the Anglophone crisis in the North West and South West regions slowed fieldwork, made travel to remote villages risky because of kidnapping, and reduced volunteers and grants; COVID-19, poor roads, lack of vehicles and requests for bribes also hampered work. SYFA has reported catchments being damaged by farmers and grazers, and projects stalling while waiting for funding.
Editor's note
Profiled as active in 2024 (Creative Bureaucracy Festival), leading a Safe Water For All Initiative in Cameroon's North West region. The association is now called The Farmer Tantoh Foundation. Sources differ on start dates: his own account says his movement began in 1996 when he was a teenager; FAO's partner page gives 2001 for founding and 2005 for registration. Evidence level: most information comes from Tantoh and his association; the main independent source is a 2008 newspaper report. We are seeking further independent evidence.
Sources: how do we know?
Evidence level: Self-reported. Based mainly on the contributor's own account. What the person says and what independent sources establish are attributed separately in the text.
- reputable journalism
Cameroonian joins global quest for clean water — Jesse Huffman, The Christian Science Monitor, 15 May 2008Supports: School biology origin; SYFA education programmes; demonstration garden on Chua Chua River; World Agroforestry Centre partnership; water context; quotes - organisational
Water catchments in the Cameroon highlands — SYFA/Farmer Tantoh, FAO Mountain Partnership (news supplied by SYFA), 22 June 2017Supports: Founding 2001/registration 2005; catchment protection methods; 20+ catchments, 25,000+ trees; damage by farmers and grazers - organisational
Save Your Future Association (SYFA) — Dieudonne Tantoh Nforba, MIT Solve, 2020Supports: Start as a teenager in 1996; 60+ tanks/wells; challenges from Anglophone crisis, COVID-19, roads, bribes - organisational
Portrait of Farmer Tantoh Nforba — Creative Bureaucracy Festival, 2024Supports: Current work (Safe Water For All Initiative, Bamenda eco-village); SYFA renamed The Farmer Tantoh Foundation; Ashoka Fellow; 'I Am Farmer' book