The National Strategy for Inclusive Finance (SNFI), drawn up by the Cameroonian government, has provided for a financial allocation of 10.5 billion FCFA between 2023 and 2025, to strengthen the supply of financing adapted to actors in the agricultural sector. ” The needs of farmers being both specific and particular, they need financial services adapted to these needs rather than traditional banking services “, can we read in the SNFI. Part of this envelope will come from the Public Investment Budget (PIB) and the other will be mobilized from development partners. To reach the target, the State intends to rely on existing partnerships with the Agency for the Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises (APME).
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In particular, training and support sessions for actors on the financing of the agricultural sector are planned, as well as the establishment of permanent consultation frameworks between financial institutions and producer organizations. Lines of credit totaling CFAF 6 billion should also be opened with selected banking institutions and intended for actors in the agricultural and agri-food sector. An incentive approach that will serve as a pretext for building the capacity of financial institutions on approaches to financing agricultural value chains.
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The terms of application of this strategy have not been defined let alone the implementation schedule. The objective remains to increase local production and processing of agricultural products in order to considerably reduce the country’s dependence on imports.
121 billion for food security
This approach comes after the country finally put an end to the process of creating the Cameroon Agriculture Financial Rural Corporation (CAFRUC), a financial institution that should be dedicated to financing the agro-pastoral sector, which the Head of State Paul Biya had made promise at the Ebolowa Agropastoral Show in 2011.
Still with the aim of boosting agricultural financing, the Prime Minister, Joseph Dion Ngute, signed, in March 2023, an order establishing the creation and operation of a fund to facilitate the supply of credit for the development of agriculture, livestock and fish farming value chains, jointly financed by the State and the AfDB. Alongside this initiative, we can also note that an envelope of 121 billion FCFA is made available to the populations of the Bénoué Valley to ensure their food security and boost their income.
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This through the project for the development and development of investments in the Bénoué valley (Viva Bénoué). Decision taken during the first session of the steering committee of this project held recently in Yaoundé, under the chairmanship of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development (Minepat), Jean Tchoffo.
Source: Current Challenges no 766 from May 8 to 10, 2023
