Along the River Soumsoum: Urban Agriculture in Ngaoundéré

With increasing urbanization large amounts of poverty is shifting from rural to urban centres, posing problems of unemployment and access to food. Due to this dynamic, urban poor all over the world have begun cultivating food in open areas in cities as a means of survival and in an attempt of securing food. With this in mind, this paper seeks to establish the place that urban agriculture holds in the small but rapidly expanding city of Ngaoundéré, in the Adamaoua Province of Cameroon. This is done through exploring the form, function and benefits of urban agriculture for those that partake in it on a daily basis. This paper also ad-dresses the largest problems faced and the associated risks of urban agriculture compounded by an unsupportive system, as well as considerations for ameliorating the present situation of urban agriculture in Ngaoundéré. Currently, urban agriculture in Ngaoundéré poses a poten-tial public health risk if problems faced by farmers remain unaddressed. But if the urban agri-culture system is enabled it has the potential of creating work, food security and nutrition to the urban poor of Ngaoundéré