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Economy

 

The Batibo economy is centered mainly around agriculture. Farm products are sold in many local markets which operate on given days in different quarters. With the growth in population and the many schools, the economy is getting increasingly diversed. Batibo now has banking institutions, and other private and public institutions which contribute to its economic development. The new N6 Bamenda - Enugu highway which is almost complete and runs through Batibo is expected to generate a lot of new economic activity in Batibo.

Banking

 

Community Credit Company, PLC

 

CCC offers a range of one stop services to clients with a steady and verifiable flow of income both in the private and public sectors, small and medium size enterprises, associations, non-governmental organisations, and para-public institutions. So far, CCC has successfully developed a network of 11 branches and a solid clientele network with over 15,000 accounts within that network.

 

Batibo Credit UnionExchange Express (does money transfer within CEMAC), and money sent from abroad can also be collected at the express union.

 

Farming

FarmingSubsistence agriculture, a self-sufficiency farming in which the farmers focus on growing enough food to feed their families, is what largely practice in Batibo. The typical subsistence farm has a range of crops and animals needed by the family to eat and clothe themselves during the year. Planting decisions are made with an eye toward what the family will need during the coming year, rather than market prices.

 

Some of the crops that are farmed include and are not limited to Plantains, banana, yams, coco yams, cassava, groundnuts, beans, various kinds of vegetables including huckleberry, a delicacy that is enjoyed by the entire northwest region of Cameroon.

 

There is also a lot of farming of cash crops especially palm fruits, coffee, coco yams, yellow yams, palm wine and it is not uncommon to see locals trade some of the surplus food to purchase other daily necessities and pay for their childrens education.

 

The Wumudom hills at Teko constitute the main grazing land for cattle. With modern methods of farming, pigs are now reared in large quantities. Poultry farming also taking root throughout the Fondom and modern farming techniques and fertilizers are increasingly being used. .

 

Hotel & Dining
Batibo Markets

There are seven markets in Batibo. Though most of these markets are open once a week, they are highly attended and specialize mostly in sale of food, palmwine and local household items.

 

Ngong Market

 

The Central Market Ngong though open for business on daily basis has the day (Ngong) reserved as the day when neighboring markets can converge for a bigger sale. Ngong is the last day of the Batibo eight day calender. In the last few years the Batibo council has engage in a massive expansion of the Central Market and stalls are being constructed and some are now availale for rent. A strong request has been made by the council for sons, daughers and friends of Batibo to construct stalls for use or business in what is now considered the premier market in Batibo.

Ngong Market is located off Main Street, a quarter mile south of the Central Post Office in downtown Batibo.

 

Kweh Market

 

This market takes place on Kweh the 7th day of the Batibo calender. Located in Bengang, Batibo this market is a farmers Market selling mostly farm products, palmwine and meat.

 

Njinyen Market

 

Located in Njinyen quarter, the bigest quarter in Batibo Sub division, this market is a farmers tearket selling mostly farm products, palmwine and meat. It meets once a week.

 

Tad Market

 

This market takes place on Tad the 3th day of the Batibo calender. Located in Kwokum quater in Batibo, the ancestral th birth place of Tembeka and Akumaka, the first recorded parents of the Widikum tribe. This market is another farmers Market selling mostly farm products, palmwine, meat. and some household products.

 

Aket Market

 

Located in Aket quarter in Batibo Sub Division. This market is a farmers market selling mostly farm products, palmwine and meat. It meets once a week.

 

Atangha Market

 

Located in Atangha quarter in Batibo Sub division, this market is a farmers tearket selling mostly farm products, palmwine and meat. It meets once a week.

 

Green Valley Market

 

Located in Green Valley Batibo, approximately two miles south of Presbyterian High School, Batibo. This market is a farmers tearket selling mostly farm products, palmwine and meat. It meets once a week.

  

The most prominent hotels found in BC are Icha Hotel and Arena Hotel previously known as the Middleman Inn. Arena has been given a face lift and services are quite outstanding. Icha which also is under good management has decent and affordable rooms as well.

 

John Kobi, a Yaoundé-based Businessman is also contracting a World-Class hotel at the Aket T-junction just before the branch going to Guzang if coming from Bamenda.

 

There are many restaurants, bars and roadside eateries in Batibo. The Batibo diet is very rich and it is characterized by starchy foods that are eaten with spicy (often very hot) sauces. Meat (goat meat especially), pork, fried and roasted fish, a wide array of bush meat, curries and peppery soups are common dishes.

 

Corn is a staple food eaten Batibo and you are going to find it in one form or the other in the many eateries that abound. There is also high consumption of root vegetables, such as yams and cassava, as well as plantains (similar to bananas). In Batibo, the starchy foods are cooked, then pounded with a pestle (a hand-held tool, usually wooden) until they form a sticky mass called, which is then formed into balls and dipped into tasty sauces. The sauces are made of ingredients such as okra, onions, peanut, spinach and tomatoes. Ndole , which is made of boiled, shredded bitterleaf (a type of green), peanuts, and melon seeds. It is seasoned with spices and hot oil, and can be cooked with fish, chicken (fowl) or meat.

 

Fresh fruit is plentiful in Batibo. The native mangoes are especially enjoyed. Other fruits grown locally and sold in village marketplaces include plums, pears (avocados), bananas, oranges, papayas (pawpaw), pineapples, monkey Cola, cola nuts, cashew nuts, guava, and a host of other fruits.

 

Amongst the common dishes that you are going to find in local restaurants in Batibo are;

  • Churned cocoyams (Nan tari),a combination of cocoyams, bitterleaf, dry meat and dry fish in red oil. This is an ancestral meal that identifies us as a cocoyam producing entity. It is now served in all restaurants and greatly loved by many.

  • Abangna and colokosia,a delicacy prepared for very important quests on very important occasions now served in all restaurants.

  • Ekwang prepared from grind cocoyams. Cocoyams is Batibo's stable food, and is usually transformed into various meals.

  • Suya - chicken marinated in African spices and served with stew

  • Egusi Soup - made with pumpkin seeds, onions, garlic, tomatoes, palm nut oil & African spices

  • Fufu - pounded yams often eaten with a vegetable sauce or soup

  • Joloffe Rice - rice with tomatoes, diced meat and mixed vegetable

  • Rice and Beans - white rice served with beans cooked and marinated with a wide array of African spices

  • Koki corn - corn mixed with green veggies and other spices and wrapped in plantain leaf.

  • Koki beans - corn mixed with green veggies and other spices and wrapped in plantain leaf.

  • Meat Stew of chicken or turkey with ginger, garlic, onions, tomatoes & African spices

  • Eru - a vegetable found in the rain forest

  • Ndole - peanut sauce, garlic, onions, tomatoes and African spices

  • Okra - stewed with tomatoes, onions, garlic & spices

  • Puff puff - This sweet favorite among Cameroon children is also known as make me well. Wheat flour, yeast, nutmeg, soymilk, and brown sugar. I gotta guess the soymilk is the Berkeley influence and not a Cameroon-thing.

  • Spinach (njama njama) and corn fufu

 

  
Batibo, a tourist's Dream

 

The Batibo Rural Council is one of Cameroons grassroot administrative units located about 40 kilometres from the NorthWest Regional capital City of Bamenda. The Moghamo-speaking people numbering about 80,000 occupy this area that is situated between the Savannah and the tropical rain forest area of Cameroon.

 

In the Moghamo calendar, there are eight days in a week.The day in Batibo usually starts early. Before the arrival of clocks, both domestic and wild birds regulated time. Between 5 and 6 a.m, villagers get out of bed and either prepare children for school or head for the farm. Crop cultivation for subsistence is the principal occupation of people of this area though there are pockets of pastoral farmers.

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