People
Boyo County
There are 9 ethnic groups within the Fundong municipality namely Kom, Hausa, Mbororo, Fulani, Banso, Bayangi, Bali, Ngie and Bum. Amongst these ethnic groups, the Kom people constitute the highest number.
The Muslim of mostly cattle rearers settled within the municipality because of the availability of grazing land. The other ethnic groups have migrated to Fundong for social and economic reasons. The Belo municipality covers 29 villages with 96 quarters and has a population estimate of 88,664 inhabitants. There are basically 5 ethnic groups in the municipality. These are: The Koms, Mbessas the Fulanis, the Mejungs and the Mejangs. The dialects spoken include the Kom, Mbessa, Mejang, Mejung, Baicham and Fulani. There are three ethnic groups in the Njinikom sub division which include the Kom who are Tikars, the Mbueni people who are from Widikum and constitute part of the Obang tribe which migrated from Momo division to the Menchum River valley and then settled in Kom.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Boyo county is one of five counties in Savannah State, whose capital is in Kumbo. It is the least populated of the five counties.
Boyo covers an area of 1,592 km² and as of 2001 had a total population of 169,725. The capital of the department lies at Fundong, which is one of the four communes in the county (including Belo, Bum and Njinikom). In terms of national ranking, Boyo is the 11th largest county in surface area, It is 11th in population size and 8th in population density.
RESOURCES
Protected areas are not common within the Fundong municipality. Some of the available protected areas are in Ijim forest reserve covering villages like Yviwi, Mboh, Aduk, Muteff ,Abuh, Ilung, Bolem, Akeh and Laikom. Another major forest reserve includes the Kom-Bum reserve found in Mbengkas. Sacred forests found within the municipality are found in Mboh, Ilung, Mbengkas, and Baiso. The main protected areas in the Njinikom include: the Ijim Plant Life Sanctuary which has protected species such as the chimpanzee, the gorilla and the birds called Barnerman’s Turaco and the Platysteria laticina (Banded Wattle eye). The main mineral resource commonly found within the Njinikom municipality is the basalt, commonly called “the black stone”, exploited and commercialized by individuals for the construction of houses and roads. World renowned Coffee "Boyo" is organically grown in dark, nutrient rich volcanic soil at elevations exceeding 5,000 feet.[Ref]
ECONOMY
Private sector Entrepreneurs in Fundong municipality range from petty traders to whole sellers of general merchandise or provision stores. Although coffee has long been the only cash crop in Fundong council area, since the 1990s this municipality has shifted to alternative livelihoods. A prominent sector is commercialization of food crops. Women are the main actors of the local economy. Farming is practiced both in the rural and urban space of the municipality. Majority of the farmers are engaged in subsistence agriculture with poor farming techniques. These are small farm sizes of about 6 hectares of land. Boyo ranks 6th in the nation for annual food crop production (124,00Tonne) ,is the 3rd highest in food crop productivity and a leader among Savannah State counties. In terms of its profile and GDP contribution, Boyo county is most similar to Momo county & somewhat like Menchum and Kupe-Manenguba.
