1. Cane Rats can be a viable option to unsustainable Bush Meat Harvesting
in Cameroon.
Author: Arrey Mbongaya Ivo
Date: 05/05/2010
©2010 African Centre for Community and Development. All rights
reserved.
P.O. Box 181, Limbe, Cameroon.
Email: oldboyarret@yahoo.com
ivo@africancentreforcommunity.com
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http://community.eldis.org/falcazo

2. Summary:
This article argues for a more dynamic use of Cane Rats as alternatives to curb dependence
on forest animals, improve access to expensive proteins, fight poverty and increase
resilience to diseases and to better wellbeing in Cameroon.
It is based on academic research and field work of African Centre for Community and
Development (http://www.africancentreforcommunity.com )
Cane rats are grown in 6-10 regions in Cameroon since 2001. With over harvesting of
forest animals for food by many village communities in forested zones, this animal could
be a viable option to illegal and unsustainable harvesting of forest animals. This is
important due to the following reasons:
• Cameroon is witnessing increase in population that has driven many to forest
resources for survival. Dependence on forest animals impacts negatively on
conservation.
• Domestication of Cane Rats is not tenuous and farmers have been trained by
professional institutions within short periods. These farmers are now engaged in
viable businesses on Cane rats (http://www.4apes.com/videos/cane-rat.php?
lang=de ) in 6 of the 10 regions in Cameroon.
• More over, the animals are fed with available resources like Elephant Grass,
Corn, Sugar Cane (in limited dozes), cassava, sweet potatoes, cabbage and bones
that are readily available and accessible even by poor people or communities
dependent on forest animals. These food items are also the common staples of
many hence local people know where and when to obtain them and market
dynamics affecting them.
• More so Elephant Grass forage farms needed to feed Cane Rats when established
can easily be maintained by farmers as they do not need too much care as with
farming vegetables. Many vegetables are easily affected by pests and some times

3. need external inputs that will not be needed in farming Elephant Grass. Elephant
Grass is also native species in many Sub-Saharan African countries hence friendly
to the climatic and intervention factors for farming Cane Rats.
• Also the rate of reproduction of Cane rats is fast hence making it possible for
farmers to grow the animals year round or to make income through out the year
(http://www.4apes.com/videos/cane-rat.php?lang=de).
• More over, many people need additional incomes to supplement high costs of
schooling and medical care for their families and children in particular. Growing
Cane rats helps in securing these incomes and also in guaranteeing access to
protein as farmers can consume the animals at home while selling as well. It helps
to secure food for poor households which are many times affected by diseases like
HIH/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria etc. These diseases impact many times on
bread winners within these families and incidentally on children’s welfare and
education (http://www.policyproject.com/pubs/SEImpact/southafr.pdf).
• Besides, when domesticated Cane Rats become almost as friendly as rabbits and
goats hence increasing their potential for usability and adaptability.
• More so, tested Cane Rat projects in Cameroon give possibilities for replicability
in forested areas in West and Central Africa or the Gulf of Guinea area where
Bush Meat is a highly cherished delicacy.
• Besides, Cameroon and Sub-Saharan Africa have high rates of poverty at various
levels (Hall and Midgley, 2004) as well as HIV/AIDS hence the need to improve
people’s resilience to shocks and stresses imposed by poverty and diseases.

4. • More so, the price of Red Meat is above 2000 Francs CFA per Kilogramme which
is too expensive for many poor individuals and households living below the
poverty line (http://www.youtube.com/user/AfricanCentreforCom#p/u/89/-
CkTq_7TN1E ).
• Fishing livelihoods are also shrinking in Cameroon. Reasons given include the
fishing of juveniles, the fishing in nurseries, marine pollution and twin trawling
by some licensed harvesters from abroad.
(http://www.youtube.com/user/AfricanCentreforCom#p/u/88/wTJzr8eQ8Uo)
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXl4lKTncjE ).
• It will be better while stepping up the production fish and other related species
like oysters and lobsters to invest in alternatives like Cane Rats in order to step up
access to proteins, diversify people’s dietary preferences while increasing
employment in a region that is in embedded poverty (Bhagavan, 1999).
However for the farming of Cane Rats to be more widespread and popularized, the
following policy measures must be conducted in order to better knowledge of the sector.
• An effective inventory of forest animals being exploited and over-exploited needs
to be made in order to measure the rate of forest depletion or the state of local
dependence on forest species. As of now academic findings are sparse and there is
a physical limitation in terms of infrastructures like road networks between forest
communities and urban centres where Bush Meat is highly consumed. This makes
monitoring of Bush Meat Markets difficult. However small scale monitoring of
Bush Meat markets has been conducted in smaller areas like Bioko in
neighbouring Equatorial Guinea.

5. • More over, policies must be designed to monitor Cane Rat production and
marketing in the 6 Southern regions where it is most active in Cameroon. This
will help in understanding farmers’ knowledge and difficulties as well as to
design replicable interventions in other parts of Cameroon and possibly Sub-
Saharan Africa.
• Broader working synergies between farmers, local governments, the government
and international organizations like the FAO must be established in order to
design access to funding the sector and to design holistic micro-projects that
empower sub-populations on the benefits of farming Cane Rats, how to farm and
market the species . This call for the linking of services of government ministries
in relevant sectors like livestock production, animal husbandry, environmental
protection, agriculture, fisheries, Employment etc so as to step campaigns,
sensitize poor people and better the design and implementation of interventions
aiming to embed Cane Rat farming in Cameroon.
• Besides the media has to be drawn into the process more vigorously than
presently. Community and Private radios should be funded or subsidized to design
and broadcast slots on the importance of Cane Rats in effecting better access to
proteins, curbing dependence on threatened forest animals including dwarf
crocodiles
(http://www.youtube.com/user/AfricanCentreforCom#p/u/3/1qar6ohEW-I).
Subsidizing and funding of private communication stakeholders has to be
objective and moderated by an independent administrative unit with diverse
stakeholders (possibly specially created QUANGOs) and before parliament in

6. order to avoid the transfer of funds into private coffers or into other sectors as has
been the case of SWAPS and HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa which is also
home to two thirds of HIV/AIDS patients in the world (http://www.avert.org/aids-
impact-africa.htm , http://www.policyproject.com/pubs/SEImpact/southafr.pdf ).
• More over, Farmer Field Schools need to be established in various regions in
order to include more farmers via participatory processes and better Participatory
Rural Appraisals in relevant sectors and document realities, knowledge etc and
better agricultural, environmental and social policies in Cameroon
(http://www.africancentreforcommunity.com/Farmer%20Field%20Schools%20an
%20unavoidable%20path%20for%20Africa.%20By%20Arrey%20Mbongaya
%20Ivo.pdf , http://community.eldis.org/falcazo/Blog/Farmer-Field-Schools--an-
unavoidable-path-for-Africa--By-Arrey-Mbongaya-Ivo ).
• Also, Conservation institutions worldwide must be more proactive towards
empowering individuals, communities and institutions willing to use alternatives
to forest animals like snails, moles, frogs, village poultry (Alder et al, 2007) and
Cane Rats in designing interventions that seek to curb dependence on
unsustainable harvesting of forest animals. They should consider investing in
village controlled parks and Game ranches and Eco-tourism via more equitable
bottom-top participatory processed that will affect meaningful the financial and
social benefits of relevant sub-populations. Many Sub-populations now resist
conservation as they consider it less beneficial or a threat to more lucrative
options.

7. • People must also go beyond the limitations of taboos that limit their consumption
of certain edible species like moles, Cane Rats, frogs etc in order to make access
and use of viable protein species more widespread especially among poor and
vulnerable poor households. This is most possible if communication tools are put
in place to sensitize more people on the relevant subjects
(http://www.youtube.com/user/AfricanCentreforCom#p/u/15/saprCBsX168 ).
This article has demonstrated that Cane Rats have huge potentials. They are fast breeders
that can be alternatives to unsustainable harvesting of forest animals, inaccessible red
meat and diminishing fisheries in Cameroon. The article proposed the linking of policy
sectors, monitoring of Cane Rat markets and establishing an inventory of exploited forest
animals as vital for more inclusive and holistic designs. More so communication
campaigns are needed as well as donor financial and structural assistance to better the
sector and relevant sectors in order to ensure more effective interventions for target
groups. This will only work if more Farmer Field Schools (ICRISAT, 2004) are
established to popularize sharing of knowledge systems within and outside vulnerable
communities. This is however dependent on a more vigorous campaign by government
line ministries to work together and not fight over funded resources to ensure
sustainability, achieve food security for many people without access to proteins in
Cameroon and to avoid wastage of donor money from recently over-burdened tax
payers.

8. References:
Arrey M.I., (2009) “Farmer Field Schools; an unavoidable path for Africa”
(http://community.eldis.org/falcazo/Blog/Farmer-Field-Schools--an-unavoidable-
path-for-Africa--By-Arrey-Mbongaya-Ivo )
Alders R., Bagnol B., Harun M. and Young M. (2007) Village Poultry, food security
and HIV/AIDS mitigation LEISA September 23.3 pp 20-21
Bhagavan MR (ed.). 1999. Reforming the Power Sector in Africa. Zed Books:
London.
Hall A, Midgley J. 2004. Social Policy for Development. Sage Publications: London.
ICRISAT., 2004. Farmer Field Schools for the youth in HIV/AIDS affected
communities. ICRISAT, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Pictures of Cane Rats:
Hunted Cane Rat on display. Courtesy of daylife.
Smoking monkeys in Cameroon. Courtesy Arrey Ivo
©2010 African Centre for Community and Development. All rights reserved.