DEVELOPMENT-CAMEROON: Will New Plans for Agriculture Take Root?

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Sylvestre Tetchiada

YAOUNDE, Apr 23 2004 (IPS) - The problems that affect agriculture in Cameroon are dispiritingly familiar: underinvestment in rural areas, limited access to water – and a global trading environment that disadvantages small-scale farmers. Government says it is trying to tackle the situation. But, civil society groups don’t necessarily view its efforts with optimism.

Although 50 percent of the population depends on agriculture for its livelihood, "it only receives eight percent of total state investment monies," says Alain Kounga, president of the Association of Development Promoters.

At present the sector contributes 20 percent of Cameroon’s gross domestic product, with the most important agricultural exports being banana, plantain, manioc and macabo.

Last year, the number of people employed in the agricultural sector was estimated at 3.6 million out of a total population of 15.8 million. Many farmers – most of whom eke out a living on small patches of land with simple tools and practically no fertilizers – also work as traders.

According to the United Nations (UN) Human Development Report for 2003, 75 percent of the rural population in Cameroon (or 59 percent of the total population) lives below the poverty threshold of a dollar a day.

Nestor Mbang, an economist based in the capital, Yaounde, told IPS "The underdeveloped and under-fertilized agriculture practiced in Cameroon needs to be modernized so that subsistence farmers are brought closer to markets and can become capable of producing for both a national and international trade."

Government speeches and documents are peppered with references to poverty, food insecurity and ways of helping to "transform peasants into farmers". And, it appears that authorities are making some efforts to translate words into action.

"What we’re concerned with today is developing sustainable forms of agriculture," Claude Temgoua, an engineer with the Ministry of Agriculture, said in an interview.

"Sustainable agriculture for us is a necessity, and is based on many concrete achievements, such as cultivating crops among the trees in the southern provinces to prevent further encroachment of the desert," he added.

This method of crop growing protects plants from the sun, while the foliage of trees is also used to fertilize the soil.

Augustin Frederic Kodock, the senior minister in charge of agriculture, said in another interview with IPS: "We want to put the fate of small farmers at the centre of this political debate."

Undersecretary of agriculture Roland Mboa adds that this will involve a dialogue between the minister and farmers "to find long-term solutions" to problems facing the agriculture sector.

During a meeting at the end of March, Kodock denounced the "tyranny of the monoculture" that has been created by the near-exclusive cultivation of crops such as millet and sorghum in the northern provinces, those most often plagued by famine. In the south there is more crop variety.

"In the short term, there will be a lot of money spent to promote agricultural diversification. Just like in the south, we plan to launch a cloud-seeding project to create more frequent rains," said Kodock.

These are welcome words – but the minister has yet to put his money where his mouth is, and say exactly how much will be spent on agriculture.

In addition, producers have had their eyes opened to the lucrative market for organic products.

"It’s a way to build a sustainable agriculture and more equitable trade, and.be better remunerated for farm products and export crops," Brigitte Ondobo, a member of the Small Farmer Federation of Cameroon, told IPS.

Crops like cotton, cocoa and coffee appear to be the most promising as far as organic production in concerned. These crops are marketed in various European and American cities.

However, civil society and non-governmental organisations are sceptical as to whether government’s new policies will be able to make a difference in the agricultural sector.

"There are so many obstacles to the rapid transformation of agriculture," said Bruno Abena of the Small Farmer’s Agriculture, Food, and Globalization Network, an international grouping that lobbies on behalf of producers.

These include poverty, the lack of public investment in rural areas, limited access to water, environmental degradation – and difficulties in competing with subsidized producers from other countries.

"If you add to that poor climatic conditions, transport and storage problems and political corruption, you’ve got (a picture of) the bulk of the problems Cameroonian farmers must endure," noted Abena.

While Cameroon has traditionally been able to feed itself, food self-sufficiency has also worsened during the past few years.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the African Development Bank announced in 2003 that Cameroon would become one of 86 countries to receive support from the Special Food Security Programme.

This is a scheme set up by the FAO to assist countries with food deficits. It has bolstered the work being done in Cameroon by the National Programme of Agricultural Popularisation and Research (PNVRA).

The PNVRA is currently trying to put in place new agricultural methods by sending engineers and other experts to rural areas to work with farmers. (ENDS/IPS/AF/WA/IF/DV/ST/AIT/SZ/JH/04) = 04231811 ORP009 NNNN