This quality plant material will then be made available to farmers, for the purpose of improving agricultural production in Cameroon.
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4.5 billion FCFA. This is the amount that the Cameroonian government intends to inject into the production of improved seeds. The information was made public on Tuesday April 11, 2023 by Gabriel Mbaïrobe, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (Minader), during the official ceremony to launch the 2023 agricultural campaign in the southern part of the country in the city of Nanga Eboko, Haute Sanaga department, Center region.
Heavily dependent on imported basic seeds, players in the Cameroonian agricultural sector, who suffered the repercussions of the health crisis from 2020, are now facing supply chain dysfunctions linked to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
For those of local production, the seed activity is governed by Law No. 2001/014 of July 23, 2001. This text stipulates that any operation of production, packaging, import, export or marketing of seeds is carried out under the control of the Cameroonian state.
In order to give a boost to local agricultural production, the Cameroonian Head of State Paul Biya granted in 2022, an envelope of 10 billion FCFA to the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (Irad) for the production and wheat development. This allocation, spread over four tranches until 2026, will be used for the production of quality seeds and the establishment of local processing structures.
It should be noted that Irad had to develop 22 varieties of wheat, four of which were adapted to the five agro-ecological zones of the country, but the limited financial means did not allow a large-scale transformation of the value chain. wheat in Cameroon.
