The gift is government's support to cocoa and coffee farmers in the West Region to help boost yields.
Some 1200 bags of fertilizer, estimated at some 60 metric tons, have been handed over to Arabica coffee farmers in the Bamboutos Division of the West Region. This was by the national support programme designed to support small and large-scale farmers involved in the coffee and cocoa subsector in the country.
The goal is to increase quality produce in this subsector. It also seeks to fight against poverty among the producers, and above all improve the quantitative and qualitative product of these two cash crops at the international markets.
Handing over the package to the First Assistant SDO for Bamboutos, Ntse Andjolo Jean Batiste, the head of the distribution mission to the West Region, Difo Gnilachi Robert said the programme, instructed by the Head of State, falls under the fertilizer subsector programme placed under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and is managed by a technical supervisory scheme, known as "The support project for the use of fertilizers in the cocoa and coffee subsector (SPUF2C)."
He said that after training the farmers in the Region last September,2012 on how to apply the fertilizer, the donation was the first phase to Arabica coffee farmers in the Bamboutos Division, while the other Divisions will follow in the weeks ahead. Receiving the 1,200 bags of fertilizer, the 1st Assistant SDO for Bamboutos, Ntse Andjolo said the gesture was to confirm President Paul Biya's promise at the Ebolowa Agro-pastoral show, where the Head of State expressed his wish to expand the coffee and cocoa sector in the country by improving the quality to meet international demand.
He reminded the farmers that government action is to confirm that agriculture remains the mainstay of the country's economy. Mr. Ntse warned farmers not to sell the gifts but rather to use it judiciously so as to improve coffee production in the Division. The head of mission, Difo Gnilachi Robert was accompanied to Mbouda by Angele Celestine Yao of the Cocoa and Coffee Development Fund (FODECC), the main sponsor of the project.
