Grants talk:PEG/Agripo/WikiVillages du Cameroun

GAC members decisions

GAC members who support this request

1. I do not appreciate that the request has been made so late and I think the first prise is too hight : maybe it should have been funded by another source than the WMF. However, this is a great project entirely done by people from a country hugely underepresented in Wikipedia and removing this is supposed to be a top priority of the movement. So yeah it is not what I, a French woman, would have done, but it's not by listening to what American and European would have done that we'll find ways to improve articles about African countries. Léna (talk) 21:07, 31 May 2016 (UTC)

GAC members who support this request with adjustments

1. -Violetova (talk) 19:19, 5 June 2016 (UTC)

GAC members who oppose this request

1. prices seems to be too high: I see comments and threats of GAC and WMF below but still see no comments from grantees rubin16 (talk) 19:41, 30 May 2016 (UTC)
2. Too high prices and some doubts about the jury and I don't understand the in kind contribution. Basically I dislike the jury and prizes organization. I suggest to explain better how the jury will be selected, what kind of prizes the winners can receive. And this is requested for transparency. --Ilario (talk) 20:14, 3 June 2016 (UTC)

GAC comments

Prices

I have two concerns with the prices. They are very high in value, especially the first one, from 1500€ to 150€.

1. How will you be able to fairly evaluate that someone did a better job than another on articles ? Especially,
   1. How will you deal with the difficulty on measuring this on two different wikipedias with huge differencies in terms of readership's size and community consensus on acceptable quality ?
   2. How will take into account wikipedians that are not taking part into the contest but will contribute nevertheless to the articles ?

It cannot be predicted if the participants will continue in the future, but the vast majority of regular Wikipedians began by contributing to something which was close to their heart. Then, they got a taste for it and spread out to other topics. Moreover, because they will have content familiar to them on Wikipedia, they will probably seek to improve them. What is the the rational behind having one huge prize and four important prizes ? Especially, how will this choice impact long term participation ? Léna (talk) 10:52, 20 May 2016 (UTC)

I am concern about the high prices as well. -- Violetova (talk) 09:48, 24 May 2016 (UTC)

Answers

2. 1 Organising our competition is not simply about providing something in different languages. The choice is based on the particular linguistic situation in Cameroon, an officially bilingual country where 2 out of 10 regions are primarily English-speaking. Unlike what is seen in other linguistically diverse countries as Canada, the English-speaking community in Cameroon is a minority and are seen as more underprivileged and less integrated.

The launch of a bilingual competition corresponds to a strong desire to be inclusive, to encourage national unity. The inherent risks of this choice are assumed. They reflect, proportionally, those with which the country is permanently confronted at all levels. We are also aware of the differences in size and sensitivity of the French-speaking and English-speaking Wikipedia. But regarding the villages, whose administrative existence is verified when registered on the (bilingual) platform, the margin of subjectivity is reduced compared to other themes whose eligibility could be debated. The large focus on illustrations (In all cases, photos are uploaded on Commons) brings both sides together. Indeed, as the jury members are all familiar with international relations and intercultural dialogue, give a reasoned and certain perspective on the articles written in the different languages.

1. 2 The competition is structured around eligibility criteria for the prize with underlying registration and confirmation of the competing applicants. In other words, only registered articles are included in the competition.

While respecting the Wikipedia rules for free access and communal improvement of articles, the competition rules are also based on a desire to cover the maximum number of villages by encouraging participants who are interested in the prize to focus on providing as much content as possible on villages which do not have articles and avoiding duplications of articles in the competition. To confirm registration and encourage strong contributions, participants are invited to write a minimum of 20 lines per article with references before offering another article for the competition. Obviously, this will not prevent internet users from adding contributions to articles of their choice, should they wish to. But their contributions will probably be minimal as every candidate will work hard on their village so they have a chance to win a prize. A higher contribution from another Wikipedian could be hypothetical. Moreover, up until now, articles on Cameroonian villages have not been very popular on Wikipedia. There are hardly 100 out of 13,000 villages and the edit history of these articles reveals that they are from the same people. The chances that this will suddenly change in 6 months is low. However, it is more likely that those who will work on an article will be people who are involved with the issues surrounding the competition. Thus, additional contributions will occur but will not be sufficient to affect the credibility of the selection. But more than ever, the jury will look at the history for the selected articles to confirm the authors’ contributions. The jury is determined to ensure the credibility of their selection, an element which is crucial for the success of this initiative.

2 At the moment, Wikipedia is mainly written by the contributors of developed countries who are mainly educated, active, with a decent standard of living (even if there are some unemployed). The prize itself only plays a small role in motivating them. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the situation is very different. Tangible prizes are definitely preferred over symbolic prizes, as they allow the concrete needs to be addressed. Attracting new contributors to a cultural project which is collaborative, anonymous, and selfless would be very difficult in a world where solidarity is certainly strong, but is most often directed towards a group to which they belong (family, village, ethnicity..). Contributing to a global encyclopedia is not straightforward and it demands effort, investment and a true journey. So the announcement of a striking, significant prize (become a millionaire!) is a clever point of entry to get local contributors involved. The limited resources we have available at the base prevent us from balancing out the prizes upward, although this is what we would have preferred. Thus, we made the choice to offer a substantial prize, which may encourage concrete development action, for the first prize, and other “incentives” prizes, rather than divide our budget into several amounts which would water down the total budget and would fail to produce a large development initiative.

It cannot be predicted if the participants will continue in the future, but the vast majority of regular Wikipedians began by contributing to something which was close to their heart. Then, they got a taste for it and spread out to other topics. Moreover, because they will have content familiar to them on Wikipedia, they will probably seek to improve them. Elns (talk)

Hi Violetova, the budget is reviewed, the 1st and highest price will be supported by AGRIPO and its local support. So the prizes which will be included to WMF grant will be less than 500 USD. We are open for additionnal suggestion on budget. -- Elns (talk) 4 June 2016 (UTC)

Community comments

would you be so kind to detail who the persons are you finance, as this starts in 4 days? --ThurnerRupert (talk) 16:56, 16 May 2016 (UTC)

Answers to community comments

I am not sure to understand the question. What do you mean? Thanks. Elns ::

Hi Thurner, if the question is about the human resources, the main staff dedicated to this project is still working in a volunteer base (leader, local organizers as well as the jury). However, there is a huge need of mass communication. Unfortunately, in our internal resources, we haven't got communication specialist, it is why we plan to benefit at part-time base the skills of a community manager as a consultant to mobilize the online contributors. Thanks. Elns ::

The competition will start on 20th May. So in 3 days. I would like to precise that the team of volunteers start to tackle premium activities. Thanks. Elns ::

Update information: The competition starts on 20th may as release by many media like RFI. Elns

WMF Comments

Hi Elns, thank you for submitting this request and responding to questions from the grants committee and community members. It is exciting that your organization has decided to focus so much energy on filling content gaps about villages in Cameroon. We have some concerns about the high cost and large scope of this project. For example, I am not aware of an on-wiki writing contest that has ever had 1,000 participants, but it would be very difficult to judge a contest this size. It would be a good idea to discuss our concerns on a phone call so that we can learn more about your team and your goals so that we can help set you up for success. --KHarold (WMF) (talk) 00:09, 26 May 2016 (UTC)

Answers to WMF Comments

Hi KHarold (WMF), thanks for your comments. Regarding the objectives, our choice was based on our experience with contests in general. However, to take account of your concern, we will revise our estimates downwards to target 200 contributors. As for the large scope of the contest, as previously announced, it is an initiative that has been launched in the spirit and the context of national unity. Furthermore, it is a contest that is mainly supported by online actions together with a few complementary and targeted operations. Covering the whole national territory also aims at increasing the impact of the contest since nothing a priori indicates that a given area could show more potential than another one and that this specific one should be prioritized than the others. As for the estimated budget for this initiative, we honestly think that, in view of the initial ambitions inherent with this initiative and of all the voluntary resources (apart from one communicator, involved in engaging the public) invested in this project, the global budget is optimized and even reduced. We have been working for 3 months, graciously donating our time, on a full-time basis, with a volunteering staff and without any funding. We previuously planned to focus financial effort to prize. The major expenditures are linked to the Prizes and the communication plan since we believe that without these cost items, it would be impossible to engage a new public as previously explained in our answers. However, as the contest being already launched, it would be impossible for us to review announced Prizes. Our credibility and our reliability are at stake. We will appreciate all efforts from the WMF and will continue our own efforts to mobilize additional resources.

As for the assessment of the articles, we are confident : a competent jury, including experienced Wikipedians, a sharp and structured methodology, and an entry platform that regulates and simplifies the process. Since the launching of the contest, we’ve been swamped with calls and I also have a field trip. A Skype call to agripo.international can be scheduled with a member of the team or we could plan a phone call with the president of jury. --Elns (talk) 14:35, 26 May 2016 (UTC)

Additional WMF Comments

Hi Elns, thank you for responding to our comments. The target sounds more reasonable now, but the budget for the contest is much higher than other writing contest grant requests. For example, the largest writing contest prize budgets do not exceed $1,000 Grants:PEG/Ravan - Community of Arabic Wikipedia/WikiWomen Prize-2015. We recommend that contest organizers wait until they have funding for prizes before announcing prize amounts, because it can be difficult to keep users engaged if prizes are promised but not delivered. We may be able to provide partial funding for the project, however, we have a few questions about your plans:

• Will you be providing any trainings, workshops or some other kind of support to help new editors learn how to edit?
• Are you providing support for participants to find references, and other guidelines they should follow to create quality articles?
• Have you considered providing a list of redlinks for villages that need articles rather than having participants use an external site to verify the village they have chosen?
• Who is your target audience for the contest and how will you be doing outreach to engage them?

It would still be good to have a phone call to discuss your project and we can discuss these questions then. --KHarold (WMF) (talk) 17:58, 27 May 2016 (UTC)

Reply to additional WMF Comments

Hi KHarold (WMF), I can answer a few questions here, I am also available for a talk on Skype on Monday or Tuesday.

• As this project is mainly aimed at rural areas, most support will be provided online. The toolbox (boîte à outils) on the project page gives some hints and tips on how to start. An original step-by-step guide has been drawn up for the contest : Wikipédia facile : l'essentiel, très vite, sur une seule page (Wikipedia Made Easy: What you really need to know on just one page). It is currently being translated into English by a UN-volunteer and will be online this week. Participants can ask questions on the same page, or by email. All applicants receive a personalized response and further advice if necessary. But monthly workshops are also held by a Wikipedian in residence in Douala, the economic centre of Cameroon (Institut français). See Wikimedia events in Cameroon. A training workshop is planned in Douala (Institut Goethe) on June 25th.
• More than 75% of all 360 communes (or districts) already have lists of red links for their villages. See for instance Ako [4] or Ngog-Mapubi [5]. The remaining communes are being completed day after day, but listing all the 13,000 villages takes time as some further checking is often necessary.
• The target audience is the whole country. Thanks to strong regional and national roots combined with effective social media strategy, the media coverage has been excellent during the first week.
  • 20 May, 2016 : Maati Bargach, « Un concours pour créer des articles Wikipédia sur les villages du Cameroun », Radio France internationale-Afrique, [6]
    • duplicate content : africain.info [7], africatime.com [8], camerlinked.com [9], cameroonvoice.com [10], camerpost.com [11], jobincameroon.com [12], journaldebangui.com [13], journalducameroun.org [14], lebledparle.com [15], madeinmboa.com [16].
  • 21 May, 2016 : translation into English : « Contest: Write about your encampment on Wikipedia and win up to to 1 million CFA F », lcclc.info, 21 mai 2016 [17], duplicate content on celebsnewz.com [18]
  • 23 May, 2016 : « Internet : Un concours pour donner la visibilité aux villages camerounais sur Wikipédia », ticmag.com, [19]
  • 26 May, 2016 : Liliane J. Ndangue, « Internet : Les Agriculteurs Professionnels du Cameroun lancent un concours pour créer des articles Wikipédia sur les villages du Cameroun », cameroon-info.net [20]
    • duplicate content : africapresse.com [21]
  • 28 May, 2016 : announcement on VoxAfrica (Panafrican television channel) [22]

-- Ji-Elle (talk) 16:38, 29 May 2016 (UTC)

Hi KHarold (WMF), the budget is reviewed, the 1st and highest price will be supported by AGRIPO and its local support. So the prize which will be included to WMF grant will be less than 500 USD. We are open for a talk for any other revision. -- Elns (talk) 4 June 2016 (UTC)

Hi Rubin16. I thought I had responded to all additional WMF comments, did we miss something ? Please tell us. Ji-Elle (talk) 14:55, 31 May 2016 (UTC)

Hi Léna. Thank you for your analysis and comment. We are of course sorry for the delay and apologize for it. But how could these newcomers know about WMF granting procedure ? In my opinion they could never have found a better sponsor, I really mean it. Cameroon has a particular colonial history: it was occupied by the Germans, then by the French, finally by the British, and this is still a very sensitive topic. So who else than a supranational organization could provide neutral and relevant help ? This might also be a political issue. Should countries with low HDIs (Cameroon=153) necessarily be coached by Western experts ? This Cameroonian project could also be seen as a lab for further cooperation and intercultural dialogue in Sub-Saharan Africa. What can we do, or not ? What are we aiming for ? Of course I do not have any ready-made answers, but in my view this is worth serious consideration. Ji-Elle (talk) 05:50, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

Je te réponds en français car j'ai peur de ne pas avoir été claire dans mon vote pour :(

J'aurais aimé que la demande de grant soit déposée il y a deux mois au moins, là le délai est particulièrement court.

J'aurais préféré que les prix soient pris en charge par Agripo et le salaire par la WMF.

Je suis d'accord avec toi, en gros je n'aurais pas fait ce projet comme ça, mais ce projet ne *me* concerne pas (enfin pas directement, tu vois ce que je veux dire ?) et oui 1500€ pour moi c'est beaucoup pour une personne mais je suis prête à expérimenter un peu et voir ce que ça donne, ça reste très raisonnable pour une expérimentation. Léna (talk) 15:43, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

Merci Léna. Il y a manifestement de nombreux malentendus ici. La formule que tu proposes est tout-à-fait envisageable, personne ne s'y opposee, c'est OK. Le montant du premier prix ne peut plus être modifié maintenant car il a été médiatisé. Il se voulait volontairement symbolique (1 million de FCFA), mais surtout il est précisé que l'utilisation au profit du développement d'une communauté est recommandée (on ne peut pas l'imposer). L'idée était qu'en fractionnant en trop de petites sommes, ça ferait plaisir à davantage de personnes, mais on s'éloignerait de l'objectif initial. La porteuse du projet est actuellement à Tayap (pas d'électricité), ils vont recevoir une mission diplomatique française qui vient évaluer le projet primé par "La France s'engage au Sud" [23]. Son assistante gère (très bien) le concours depuis Yaoundé, on échange plusieurs fois par jour, mais nous pouvons envisager une session Skype colllective la semaine prochaine. Merci pour ton écoute attentive, Ji-Elle 04:57, 2 June 2016 (UTC)

Reply about the jury

Hi Ilario, thank you for your question. The five members of the jury are :

• Jacqueline Louviot, researcher in information and communication science, former lecturer at University of Nancy, contributor to wikiprojects for more than 10 years (president of the jury)
• Laura Guien, professional journalist, representative of AGRIPO, contributor to Wikipedia
• Donatien Kangah, web consultant, president of the Wikimedia Community User Group of Ivory Coast
• Silvia Muíña Moirón, Spanish professional photographer (on rural and development issues, with a special focus on Cameroon)
• Leila Njee, graduate in economics and public policy, intern at International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Ji-Elle (talk) Ji-Elle 05:52, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

New Budget on June 4th

The new budget has 2 sources of payment for Prizes. The first and highest prize of 1500 euros will be supported by AGRIPO and its local support. The smallest prizes ( 4 based on quality of articles) and the others prize on highest quantity of qualified articles (with respect of wikipedia rules) could be supported by WMF grants. We also reduce the cost of ceremony prize. This ceremony prize include the travel of local awarded contributors. The cost of judges activities will be supported by jury members. It is why we talk on in-kind cntribution due to the fact that WMF as well as AGRIPO will not founded the jury activities. Their activities are independent and free of costs for financial partners.

Project budget table

	Category	Item description	Number of units	Unit	Unit price	Budget (euros)	Comment
1	Project staffing	Project manager	months	6	250	1500
2	Project staffing	Community manager	months	6	100	600	Partial time job
3	Communication	Design identity and communication	per item	1	500	500
4	Communication	In-country communication	per item	10	100	1000
5	Communication	Travel for in country communication	per item	10	50	500
6	Communication	Internet connexion		6	50	300
7	Events	Ceremony	general cost		1000	1000	Rent, travel of local awarded contributors, drinks etc.)
8a	Prizes	First Prize	Per item	1	1500	1500	Covered by AGRIPO and its local support
8b		Others Prizes	general cost		2500	2500	For these prizes, each prize has a value of less than 500 USD
9	Judges/Partners	Follow up and selection	general cost	6	200	1200	Jury activities are financially supported by judges/partners
10	Additional elements	Contingency	general cost		1000	1000
Total						11400

Total cost of project

11 400 euros = 12 958 dollars

Total amount requested from the Project and Event Grants program

9 000 USD

-- Elns (talk) 4 June 2016 (UTC)

Three-week progress report

The first figures available are very encouraging :

• More than 20 press releases in 1 week (African media only)
• 41 articles created in 21 days ; 10 out of the 10 regions of Cameroon represented ; 31 departments ; 11 different editors (8 from Cameroon).

So we remain confident in the results we expect to achieve within 6 months (at least 200 articles created).

-- Ji-Elle (talk), 11 June 2016 (UTC)

That works out at US$45 per article created if the project meets the results expected.

Are the articles created so far worth an investment at that level? Would you like to give us some examples? MPS1992 (talk) 19:41, 12 June 2016 (UTC)

---

Thank you MPS1992 for these additional questions.

• The project holders had first announced an objective of 1,000 new articles. As the grants team considered this figure overly optimistic, they reduced it to 200. The final results may indeed remain below 1,000, but according to the first results several hundreds still seem plausible.
• New articles are listed in real-time on the project page. Here are some of them, created by different editors who had never contributed before the contest : Boura I • Djingliya • Libamba • Minawao • Mamb • Nkolandom
• They can be improved until November 20th. In most cases pictures will be added later on, as newcomers have to discover both Wikipedia and Commons.
• This contest has already a strong emulating effect, many other articles related to Cameroon were created in a short period of time (all new articles automatically listed on project page).

But what is at stake here is not primarily the number of articles. Many research papers and everyday observation show that very little content about Sub-Saharan Africa comes from the region. Unfortunately most West-centric Wikipedia outreach programmes don't work. So here - maybe for the first time - a deep-rooted extremely active Cameroonian community presents a "home-made" project, based on its own field experience, network and huge motivation.

This is a unique opportunity - the only key to success. We should not miss it. - Ji-Elle (talk), 20:57, 13 June 2016 (UTC)

Hello Ji-Elle, thank you for replying to my question. Unfortunately I cannot read French. The only article listed on the project page that is in English right now is en:Wainamah, which despite having been created more than two weeks ago, still lacks any sources at all, ends with the phrase "The villagers are firmly attached to their culture, the", and also contains sentences like "They then became numerous that the area grew into a village." and "There also exist few shops in the village." This is despite significant input from existing volunteers in the English Wikipedia taking valuable volunteer time to make clear the guidelines for English Wikipedia articles, for example the need to cite reliable sources. It may be that the articles created in French, and the hundreds of articles to come, are of a much better standard such that they justify US$45 per article created, but it is not at all clear at present that this is or will be the case. MPS1992 (talk) 21:38, 13 June 2016 (UTC)

Yes MPS1992, I can see the point. So here comes some further information about the context.

Cameroon is a 80% francophone country and the 2 English-speaking regions are the least developed ones. Indeed, it would have been much more comfortable to focus on the French-speaking areas. Maybe limiting the contest to 3 regions instead of 10 as Kacie Harold suggests, and then simply skip the more tricky issue of the anglophone minority (it still can be done). But the project holders did not choose the easier way as their priority is on development and unity, and more accurate representation of their country on Wikipedia. So the implementation was launched in French in the first place. All the communication tools had to be translated into English and this took time. The communication campaign in English only starts next week. This new step will clearly benefit from the first feedback in French. - Ji-Elle (talk), 6:41, 14 June 2016 (UTC)

@Ji-Elle: thank you for your detailed responses. I can see the sense in this. I have seen how new articles are still being created at a steady rate, which is very good news, so I wish the project all success. MPS1992 (talk) 21:05, 22 June 2016 (UTC)

I would also like to note that, at the notional figure of US$45 per article that I calculated above, the 5,165,000 articles currently in the English Wikipedia would only take around US$232M to create, which is not overly expensive given that the Wikimedia foundation's planned spending for 2014-2015 was US$58.5M in just that one year. Of course the advantages of this project proposal are mainly in reaching new potential editors, not merely creating articles. MPS1992 (talk) 20:10, 27 June 2016 (UTC)

First month progress report

• 85 articles created so far [24]. They can be improved until 20th November.

-- Ji-Elle (talk), 11:01, 20 June 2016 (UTC)

Quick assessment after the first 2 months

Before #Wikivillage initiative, 80 villages had an article, they are now more than 430 new villages [25], almost always sourced and have a geographic location infobox. More than 89 uploaded images, OSM maps for the concerned subdivision [26], around 40 navigation templates created [27] and a new portal [28], with 336 articles.
In addition, the portal of Cameroon in french [29] benefits of this dynamic, from 2,453 to more than 3,134 articles, with significant progress on issues like energy, languages , media, spirituality or cooking.
. -- Elns (talk), 21 July 2016

More about the project initiator

My two cents : how come the Grants Committee doesn't seem to trust Elns, while everyone else does ? [30], [31], [32], [33] ...

Ji-Elle 08:22, 25 July 2016 (UTC)

Halfway progress report

Several original licence free images for Portal:Bassa

Hello,

• 777 articles created so far by 95% Cameroonian contributors. They can be improved until 20th November.

• 2 portals created by a Cameroonian contributor who had never contributed before the launching of the contest on May 20th.
  • Portal:Bassa (451 articles)
  • Portal:Plants of Cameroon

-- Ji-Elle (talk), 11:01, 18 August 2016 (UTC)

Funding decision

Hello Elns, I am very, very sorry for the long delay in my response to your last email, and for not responding to your update on your grant proposal sooner. The grants team has had a very busy few months, traveling to several community conferences and working on a major redesign of our grant programs and websites. We have been rotating between several staff members to cover open requests, which has caused delays in decisions on some grant proposals. Although we do discuss grants by email and phone calls, we try to keep discussions on the talk page of grants so that staff and community can keep track of plans that have been proposed, making it for WMF staff to fill in for each other during busy months. Again, I apologize for the significant delay in my response - we hope that the changes we have made to the grant programs will ensure that this kind of delay does not happen in the future.

In our last conversation, we talked about whether grant funds could be used to pay for staff time to do training sessions. We have been discussing this issue more generally over the last few months, and need to get community input before we make changes to our guidelines on paying for staff time for trainings. We are able to offer $2,000 USD to fund prizes for the contest. We appreciate the frequent updates you have continued to post, and are impressed with how successful you have been in your efforts to engage and train new editors and in surpassing your goals for content creation and improvement. We look forward to learning more about your project in the final report. --KHarold (WMF) (talk) 18:46, 9 September 2016 (UTC)

I have updated the total grant to $2,200 USD, with the additional $200 to be used to cover contingencies and unexpected expenses. --KHarold (WMF) (talk) 16:25, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

Four-month progress report

Several free images for [1]

Thanks KHarold (WMF) for the WMF financial support,

• 1057 articles created so far by mainly Cameroonian contributors. They can be improved until 20th November.

• 2 portals created by a Cameroonian contributor who had never contributed before the launching of the contest on May 20th.
  • Portal:Bassa with 564 articles
  • Portal:Plants of Cameroon with 63 articles

• Several images [34] with more than 419 photos

• Thousands of GIS localisation for [35] with more than 32 maps

Elns (talk) 16:29, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

Five-month progress report

Several free photos for [2]

Follow-up KHarold (WMF) of Wikivillages of Cameroon,

• 1186 articles created so far by mainly Cameroonian contributors. They can be improved until 20th November.

• 2 portals created by a Cameroonian contributor who had never contributed before the launching of the contest on May 20th.
  • Portal:Bassa with 568 articles
  • Portal:Plants of Cameroon with 83 articles

• Several images [36] with more than 507 photos

• Thousands of GIS localisation for [37] with more than 33 maps

Elns (talk) 14:41, 20 October 2016 (UTC)

End of contest

Several free photos for [3]

Thanks KHarold (WMF) , iopensa , Stephane, Léna, Violetova and Ji-Elle. Your support was greatly appreciated in the context of highly closed community who prefer to work with known people.

The Wikivillages of Cameroon is closed this November 20th, 2016. As a preliminary result, we are happy to count

• 1367 articles created so far by mainly Cameroonian contributors, with 1354 articles in french and 13 in english.

• 2 portals created by a Cameroonian contributor who had never contributed before the launching of the contest on May 20th.
  • Portal:Bassa with 569 articles
  • Portal:Plants of Cameroon with 87 articles

• Several images [38] with more than 552 photos

• Strong media coverage [39] with more than 29 articles

• Thousands of GIS localisation [40] with more than 33 maps

The international jury of 5 qualified experts will begin the selection on November 21th, 2016. The prize winners will be announced on January 20th, 2017. A completed report with precise indicators of this special initiative will be published on February 20th, 2017. Thanks, thanks and keep in touch. Elns (talk) 00:56, 21 November 2016 (UTC)

Final report

Awards of Wikivillages_of_Cameroon

Hi KHarold (WMF) , iopensa , Stephane, Léna, Violetova, Anthere and Ji-Elle. The final report is ready.

Congratulations to Elns and the AGRIPO team for this remarkable report. Provided within the given deadline, comprehensive and honest... as usual :-). Beyond facts and figures I would like to emphasize the main point in my opinion : unique in Sub-Saharan Africa, this was the first project entirely conceived and managed from A to Z by a Sub-Saharan team (Cameroon). As the WMF is currently debating on future strategy, couldn't such grassroots initiatives be better taken into account? Deep motivation is often the true key to success. -- Ji-Elle 11:05, 28 March 2017 (UTC)