Nearly a year after the government pledged to help boost agricultural production, farmers told IRIN they have been “forgotten” by their political leaders.
“We have to do what we can to get by, completely on our own,” Agnès Koa, a farmer in the village of Ebogo, 70km northeast of the capital Yaoundé, told IRIN.
“We desperately need financial support and training to move beyond subsistence and be more productive.”
Following deadly riots triggered in part by high food and fuel prices, the government in April 2008 announced an “emergency plan” to reinforce the country’s agricultural sector. The government said in part it would subsidise fertiliser and equipment for farmers.
“For the moment, we have seen absolutely no realisation of this plan on the ground,” said Hozier Nana Chimi of the local NGO Support to Local Development Initiatives. “It appears this vast programme was announced just to calm people’s anger at the time, but it has all remained merely intentions.”
He noted that 20-25 years ago the government strongly supported farmers. “But after structural adjustment programmes, that ended.”
Farmer Jean-Marie Koffi, whose cocoa trees in Ebogo have been damaged by insects, told IRIN the government used to distribute products to protect crops - but no longer.
Farmers lack tools, support, infrastructure
“And our tools are old and worn,” he said. As with most other farmers in the area around Ebogo, he does not have the means to replace them. Most Cameroonian farmers still use basic tools like machetes and hoes.
Besides cocoa, farmers in this region produce manioc, maize and plantains.
Jean-Georges Etélé, a member of Citizens’ Association for the Defence of Collective Interests (ACDIC), which champions the rights of farmers, said the experience of farmers around Ebogo is repeated across the country, where small-scale farmers make up 70 percent of the 19 million population.
“They all lack the tools, support and infrastructure necessary [to make farming work],” he said. “They feel abandoned and forgotten by the powers-that-be.”
Farmers told IRIN the lack of roads also impedes their efforts. In many cases they are forced to wait for buyers to come to them and must accept what farmers called “ridiculously” low prices.
Corruption, red tape
Thomas Etoa, president of a federation of farmers’ cooperatives in Essé, the main city near Ebogo village, said: “When we want to get any assistance from a government ministry, we run into a mountain of red tape.”
Government workers ask for money just to have a request looked at, he said.
“Of course, it is impossible to protest against these practices,” Etoa said. “The farmer is obliged to just stay silent. We cannot do a thing. We just have to put up with it.”
Officials with the Agriculture Ministry said they did not have authorisation from the minister to comment.
ACDIC is one group that has not stayed silent. In a December report the group alleged that most funds earmarked to subsidise maize production had been misappropriated by Agriculture Ministry workers.
The National Commission Against Corruption in December launched an investigation into ACDIC’s allegations and its report is due out in the coming weeks.
Gilles Othon, who does fish-farming and poultry breeding in Essé, told IRIN he is determined to make agriculture work, and pass it on to the next generation.
“I refuse to die. We do not want to live in poverty,” he said. He dreams of having the means to put up a centre to train local youths in agriculture.
Government strategy paper
A 2006 government rural development strategy for 2006-2015 said given that more than 80 percent of Cameroon’s poorest live in rural areas, “any action aimed at reducing poverty absolutely must serve the rural population.”
As of 2006, according to the document, just 26 percent of Cameroon’s arable land was being cultivated.
The strategy calls for rehabilitating 1,500km of roads per year, training 30,000 farmers per year and ensuring rural communities can access credit.
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“We have to do what we can to get by, completely on our own,” Agnès Koa, a farmer in the village of Ebogo, 70km northeast of the capital Yaoundé, told IRIN.
“We desperately need financial support and training to move beyond subsistence and be more productive.”
Following deadly riots triggered in part by high food and fuel prices, the government in April 2008 announced an “emergency plan” to reinforce the country’s agricultural sector. The government said in part it would subsidise fertiliser and equipment for farmers.
“For the moment, we have seen absolutely no realisation of this plan on the ground,” said Hozier Nana Chimi of the local NGO Support to Local Development Initiatives. “It appears this vast programme was announced just to calm people’s anger at the time, but it has all remained merely intentions.”
He noted that 20-25 years ago the government strongly supported farmers. “But after structural adjustment programmes, that ended.”
Farmer Jean-Marie Koffi, whose cocoa trees in Ebogo have been damaged by insects, told IRIN the government used to distribute products to protect crops - but no longer.
Farmers lack tools, support, infrastructure
“And our tools are old and worn,” he said. As with most other farmers in the area around Ebogo, he does not have the means to replace them. Most Cameroonian farmers still use basic tools like machetes and hoes.
Besides cocoa, farmers in this region produce manioc, maize and plantains.
Jean-Georges Etélé, a member of Citizens’ Association for the Defence of Collective Interests (ACDIC), which champions the rights of farmers, said the experience of farmers around Ebogo is repeated across the country, where small-scale farmers make up 70 percent of the 19 million population.
“They all lack the tools, support and infrastructure necessary [to make farming work],” he said. “They feel abandoned and forgotten by the powers-that-be.”
Farmers told IRIN the lack of roads also impedes their efforts. In many cases they are forced to wait for buyers to come to them and must accept what farmers called “ridiculously” low prices.
Corruption, red tape
Thomas Etoa, president of a federation of farmers’ cooperatives in Essé, the main city near Ebogo village, said: “When we want to get any assistance from a government ministry, we run into a mountain of red tape.”
Government workers ask for money just to have a request looked at, he said.
“Of course, it is impossible to protest against these practices,” Etoa said. “The farmer is obliged to just stay silent. We cannot do a thing. We just have to put up with it.”
Officials with the Agriculture Ministry said they did not have authorisation from the minister to comment.
Photo: Fanny Pigeaud/IRIN  |
| Farmers in Cameroon |
The National Commission Against Corruption in December launched an investigation into ACDIC’s allegations and its report is due out in the coming weeks.
Gilles Othon, who does fish-farming and poultry breeding in Essé, told IRIN he is determined to make agriculture work, and pass it on to the next generation.
“I refuse to die. We do not want to live in poverty,” he said. He dreams of having the means to put up a centre to train local youths in agriculture.
Government strategy paper
A 2006 government rural development strategy for 2006-2015 said given that more than 80 percent of Cameroon’s poorest live in rural areas, “any action aimed at reducing poverty absolutely must serve the rural population.”
As of 2006, according to the document, just 26 percent of Cameroon’s arable land was being cultivated.
The strategy calls for rehabilitating 1,500km of roads per year, training 30,000 farmers per year and ensuring rural communities can access credit.
fp/np/cb
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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