Floristic Composition of Home Gardens and their Role in the Livelihood of the People of Kumba Municipality, Southwest Region, Cameroon

Information on species diversity in home garden is scanty as most attention is focused on cash crops production for exports. The main objective of this study was to contribute to knowledge on the specie composition of home gardens and the role it plays in livelihoods of home garden owners in Kumba Municipality. A purposive sampling technique was used to select respondents for the study area. Seventy (70) well-structured questionnaires were established in the three zones. Zone 1(Lower Meta quarter block 1), zone II (Upper Meta quarter block 2) and zone III (Kumba town) for the collection of socio-demographic data and home garden information. For vegetation data collection, quadrats of 10x10m were established to collect all tree species. Trees were measured at DBH 1.37 using a diameter tape while for herbs, climbers and creepers quadrats of 2x2m were established in all plots. Shrubs, herbs, climbers and creepers were counted in all the plots. Diversity indices were calculated and analyzed using excel and SPSS version 22.0. Descriptive statistical such as frequency tables, pie and bar charts were derived. Results revealed that females who are of the middle aged 30-40 and 50 years above who are married with some level of education having as occupation trading dominated across the study sites. Also, they mostly have a house hold size of 4-7 persons. Trees, herbs, climbers, shrubs and creepers are the main plant species recorded across sites. A total of 86 useful plants species with a total of 46 families were reported during plant inventory. Species richness, abundance, number of genera, number of families and Shannon index of trees species showed significant differences (P< 0.05) across zones. Socially, economically and environmentally home garden plays major role in the livelihoods of the farmers. The main role was for food (29%) closely followed by medicine and income (12%) respectively and the least wind breaks (3%) to protect their houses and some home garden crops expose to wind action. Management activities of home gardens were mostly carried out by women who are busy to plant, weed, mulch, thin, fertilize, harvest and market the produces from garden. Majority of the respondents across the study sites faced challenges of destruction by domestic animal, pest and disease infestation, theft, climate change, small size of home garden areas, lack of improved seeds, seedlings failure, and lack of extension agents. It was recommended that government should facilitate the acquisition of land especially to women and subsidize farm inputs and also ensures regular visit of extension agents.