Cameroon’s Agriculture and Rural Development Minister (MINADER), Gabriel Mbairobe has expressed government’s desire to step up wheat production as well as curtail dependence on foreign nations for agricultural inputs. These, to Minister Mbairobe, are priority areas cited in his 94 billion 893 million FCFA budget for 2023 defended at the National Assembly.
“I am happy that the budget of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development has increased. This is very important for us. After the Russo-Ukranian crisis the prices of fertilisers, pesticides and many inputs in agriculture have increased. We need to give subsidies to farmers who support their activity and revamp the agriculture sector,” he explained.
In addition to this, the ministry, he said, is pushing for a rise in home production of wheat. In this regard, MINADER, he said, allocated part of its budget to produce seeds for farmers to give them fertilizers and facilitate access to water.
“We are talking now of agricultural sovereignty. We need to produce all seeds in our country to increase the production of Irish potatoes, market gardening, cabbage, carrots, etc…. We have to do it under greenhouse conditions or in irrigation areas. We are looking forward to increase the production of rice and maize. That is why we will in 2023 facilitate access to land for the private sector so they can invest in agriculture and help us increase production,” he explained.
Despite its huge potentials, Cameroon’s agriculture sector remains very much underexploited. Among multiple reasons, are the lack of access to land, lack of adequate information and poor farm to market roads that often result on loss of perishable products in the farms and barns.
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