Common Initiative Groups in Cameroon (CIG): A true test of Community Development.

Common initiative groups in Cameroon have been in existence for quite a long time taking several forms in different regions across the country. Through village meetings and associations guided by traditional elders and appointed leaders, people were often organize to work in community activities like building community halls, village trenches, maintain roads, pipe borne water projects amongst others. The passage of time has engulfed many different sectors and today it is not only limited to the countryside but has involved city dwellers who act as information belt between the different zones and regions. This article examines the positive changes and transformation brought about through common initiative groups in Cameroon.

The change in attitude towards a formidable involvement in common initiative groups (CIGs) was prompted by the fall in market prizes of cocoa and coffee some twenty years ago in the World Market. Coffee and cocoa were the main cash crops that accounted for about 75% of family incomes. Structural adjustment programs instituted by the Britton woods institutions led to massive redundancy and people had to look for alternative means to feed their families. Whether by chance or destiny from the backdrop of these unforeseen circumstances, common initiative groups have had a remarkable and successive agenda that has gradually changed the lives of the masses.

The Credit Union initiated in 1963 by a Roman Catholic priest from Holland in a remote area in the north-west region of Cameroon with the ambition of helping people in that community raise tuition fees for the education of their children has become one of the main financial institutions in Cameroon with hundreds of branches across the country. Statistics reveals that the credit union started with sixteen (16) members and a saving of two thousand (2200)cfa francs or four and a half dollars, but as of 2008 it now serves some one million five hundred people. Cameroonians have invested trust in the credit union because of transparency in the management of funds. The credit union gives loans with affordable interest rates and this has encouraged people with average incomes to start small businesses. Credit unions also encourage common initiative groups to take group loans and this has inspired the creation of group activities. About 80% of food supplied in most urban cities in Cameroon comes from the countryside where processing, packaging and marketing is done by most CIGs and their affiliates. With little or no support from the government, some of these groups are engaged in food supply around the central African sub region and even beyond. Some groups have bought hectares of arable land for commercial farming while others have created employment opportunities promoting youth entrepreneur development.

The emergence of community radio stations in the late 1990s greatly influenced the activities of common initiative groups. Individuals and groups emerged with ambitious projects and this medium became a platform for the voiceless. These community radio stations broadcast news and announcements in the local dialects and this has created a sense of belonging to people in their respective communities. Some CIG leaders share their creative and innovative skills on radio programs and documentaries and people have become aware of their individual responsibilities to build their communities.  Some of these common initiative groups have drummed support for the continuous maintenance of farm to market roads in some localities, the construction of bridges, health posts, orphanages, schools, ways to fight against juvenile delinquency and school dropouts. Rural-urban migration has encouraged the learned youthful population to act as ambassadors to their respective communities. These young and energetic youth have not only copied the urban rhythm of life and fashion but have gone beyond these to make use of the advanced information and communication technologies benefit their communities. It is normal these days to talk about chain of activities in local communities sponsored and directed by some CIGs located in the big cities. CIGs have emerged with vision and mission such as; the promotion of family values, welfare and gender base development, the promotion of cultural development, training and research writing, improvement of the state and civil society relations, lobby for women’s political participation, female entrepreneur, business skills and leadership development, developing the quality of teacher education, empower parents of kids with disabilities, the list is endless.

CIGs are proving a worthy relation with international NGOs who consider them as reliable partners to promote local ownership and participation which has been recognized as an efficient and appropriate tool towards community development. Some years back, it was revealed that projects designed to benefit local communities never reached the required destination because partners involved had little mastery of the area in question. The strategies use by CIGs is surpassing those barriers because those concern have lived, worked and they know the daily realities of community life. Many partners of development have failed to attain their objectives, but I think it’s time the world should open up to the CIG modus operandi and push development to the ends of the world especially in those communities that have been left in the cold for too long.

Nfor Canicius