CAMEROON – The government of Cameroon plans to boost banana production in the country by relaunching the operations of agro-industrial unit Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) with CFAF29bn (US$49.5m) financing.
From the CFAF 29 billion (US$49.5m) financing, the Corporation will utilize the bigger share CFAF14 billion (US$23.9m) in the banana sector and CFAF7 billion (US$11.9m) for the rubber, CFAF7 billion (US$11.9m) for oil palm and CFAF1 billion (US$1.7m) to finance salary arrears.
With the financing the Ministry of Economy said that it is confident the country’s banana production will resume its upward trend which recorded a 20.9% drop in the first quarter of 2020.
Other initiatives that have also been undertake to boost the sectors performance include the extension of the Banana Accompanying Measures (BAM) programme implemented by The European Union by 2 years, to support the banana sector weakened by the covid-19 health crisis and the security crisis experienced in the country.
The program was launched in 2013 with an estimated budget of XAF31.6 billion (US$51.9 million).
It aims to modernize banana cultivation by introducing the use of equipment such as generators and irrigation systems. The programme also plans to modernize and extend the fruit terminal of the Port of Douala.
The programme is also undertaken in other African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries to address the underlying weakness in the agricultural sector relating to commercial competitiveness and low productivity.
It’s also set to strengthen entrepreneurial and technological development and innovation, implementation of quality standards, improvement of physical infrastructure, development of agricultural information systems and enhancement of risk management systems.
PHP company, the current leader in the country’s banana market is planning to acquire 12 tractors through the grant offered under the BAM programme which will ensure further bullish performance in the sector.
“Therefore, as of 2020, this sector should once again resume into a favourable dynamic supported mainly by the continued good performance of the other operators that will launch the exploitation of new plots of land,” said the Ministry of the Economy.
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