IITA has commenced a 3-year participatory research project to identify transformative approaches to indigenous women and young people’s engagement in integrated livelihood and conservation initiatives. The project titled “Transformative approaches to livelihood and conservation: Learning from indigenous women and youth—IWY (TALC)” aims to investigate the impact of existing livelihood and conservation efforts on indigenous forest-dependent women and youth (Baka and Bagyeli) in the North of the Dja Reserve and around Kribi, Cameroon.
The project’s findings will support forest-dependent women and youth in developing desirable and sustainable initiatives by themselves.
In its approach, the project will assess past and ongoing livelihoods and conservation projects in the selected areas to highlight the impact of former and current integrated initiatives on the lives of IWY within the indigenous community in Cameroon. It will also consider the barriers to the full participation of IWY in these initiatives, examine the options to overcome them, and explore the mechanisms, tools, and conditions that have been successful at encouraging robust participation in these initiatives.