Bamadi, affectionately called Barma by people in his community, has opened his doors to more than 200 families since 2014 when the crisis in the Far North region of Cameroon began. Thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) have fled violence perpetrated by armed groups in the department of Logone-et-Chari, and host communities, like Barma’s in the Dor district of Makary, have given them shelter. Recent inter-ethnic conflicts have aggravated the situation that has been raging on for years, particularly in the Lake Chad Basin, affecting hundreds of thousands of families.

Host communities are sharing their limited food, natural resources and basic social services, which has gradually weakened their resilience, leading to the disruption of production systems, livelihoods and social cohesion in the region. 

Barma, for example, a father of 13 children, was already struggling to support his family as a seasonal farmer. At the same time, he knew he had to help in whatever way he could.