Government To Boost Local Production

#Politique

Hereunder is a press release following the February Cabinet Meeting chaired yesterday at the Star Building by Prime Minister, Joseph Dion Ngute

“The Prime Minister, Head of Government, His Excellency Joseph DION NGUTE,this Thursday, 28 February 2019, chaired this month’s Cabinet Meeting at 10 a.m. at the Prime Minister’s Office. The Meeting was attended by Ministers of State, Ministers, Ministers Delegate and Secretaries of State. During this Meeting, Members of Government reflected further on the issue of reducing the importation of goods and services, which featured in last month’s Cabinet Meeting.

Two items featured on the agenda, namely: the strategy to reduce dependency on imported fish and dairy products, by the Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries; operational actions to increase the local production of rice and maize, by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. After the introductory statement by the Head of Government, the Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries gave an overview of the national pro duction of fish and milk. He noted that though the importation of fish is still high, it dropped by 55% between 2016 and 2017 due to the increase in local production over the same period.

This downward trend should continue given the actions carried out to develop fish farming and the diversification of food sources. Talking about challenges of fish production, the Minister in charge of Fisheries raised the issue of the shortage of fishery resources due to the Cameroon’s geographical location and the absence of fertilising currents, leading to a low availability of this resource and hence, a relatively low affluence of investors in this sector. Fish farming for its part has remained artisanal due to the approximate quality of inputs, difficulties in selling fisheries products, and unqualified human resources. In order to reduce Cameroon’s dependency on imported fish,

Government plans to speed-up and popularise fish farming techniques and reorganise fish management structures, especially fish farming stations, fishing centres, and fishery control points. Furthermore, there are plans to construct Improved Landing Points with preservation and commercialisation facilities of fisheries products and to settle nationals in fishing areas. Regarding the production of milk, the Minister in charge of Livestock stated that available data show a 7% increase per year on average since 1994, for a local production estimated at 239 thousand tons in 2017. Among the main obstacles to the progress of the milk sector, is the poor genetic performance of cows, the prevalence of diseases with serious impacts on milk production in some areas, and the poor mastery of technological innovations by producers.

To remedy this situation, measures have been taken within the framework of the Livestock Development Project, with the support of development partners. These measures include: gradually purchasing dairy breeds, genetic improvement of local breeds, production of animal semen, and structuring milk collection and distribution circuits. The floor was later given to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development who presented the operational actions to increase the local production of rice and maize. He said that national production of rice in 2018 was estimated at close to 100 000 tons and covers just 15% of national demand. To satisfy the needs of consumers, the importation of rice increased significantly since the end of the 2000s and stands at close to 632 000 tons averagely per year, due to change in feeding habits of the people because of rapid urbanisation.

To relaunch the local production of rice and absorb the deficit observed between demand and supply, the Minister of Agriculture advocated the increase in production of improved rice seedlings, support for the establishment of private rice farms and the supervision of rice farmers, the growing of rain-fed rice, the purchase of ploughing equipment, and speeding up the rehabilitation and development programme of irrigated areas. Regarding maize, the Minister of Agriculture said that the demand for this product is high. It is estimated at 2.8 million tons in 2019, for a national production of 2.2 million tons in 2018.

The main constraints related to large scale production of maize include the remoteness of production areas, difficulties in obtaining agricultural lands, the high cost of manure and pesticides, the low accessibility to improved seedlings and insufficient mechanisation. The action plan elaborated to increase local production of maize provides for the involvement of the private sector in the large scale maize production, the creation of new varieties of seedlings, facilitating access to agricultural inputs, making available equipment pools to producers, and constructing post-harvest infrastructure.

After discussions which followed these statements, the Head of Government instructed the Minister of the Economy to submit to him proposals on resources that can be mobilised in 2019 for the purchase of ploughing equipment and improved rice and maize seedlings. He told the Minister of livestock to setup a collection and preservation mechanism of aquaculture products and accelerate the implementation of measures to produce high quantity and quality feed necessary for milk production. The Prime Minister instructed the Minister of Agriculture to launch a national and international invitation to tender for stakeholders of the private sector who wish to invest on available land in the North-West, West, Littoral, and Far North Regions. The Meeting was adjourned at 12:00 p.m.”

Yaounde, 28 February 2019

 Secretary General, Prime Minister’s Office.

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