Value-Based Agriculture Encouraged at Farming Season Launch

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development enjoined youth to embrace agriculture. The farming season for the seven regions (South West, North West, West, East, Littoral, Centre and South) of the southern part of Cameroon was launched on March 15, 2013 in Ndop, Ngoketunjia Division of the North West Region. The launching ceremony chaired by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Essimi Menye, gave an opportunity for farmers to showcase their production prowess as if to tell the world that Cameroon has plenty of food and needs just a little push for it to become food self sufficient.

To boost the morals of the farmers so they can produce more, Minister Essimi Menye came with farm equipment and inputs to farmers of the region worth over FCFA 60 million. The gifts included 22 motorbikes, bags of fertilizers, cutlasses, hoes, watering cans, diggers, trucks, wheel barrows, seedlings, chemicals amongst others to improve quality and quantity production.

While launching this year's farming season, Minister Essimi Menye encouraged the youth to practice agriculture so that Cameroon becomes food self sufficient as soon as possible. He called on farmers to get into agriculture based on value which involves processing, stocking, and packaging of their products. Minister Essimi Menye said this will make the farmers richer as they will produce more and sell not only in Cameroon but to other neighboring countries. He said the government of Cameron has plans to open a company that produces fertilizers so as to reduce the price of fertilizers in Cameroon. He equally called on farmers to constitute themselves into cooperatives and work with agricultural workers at their disposals so as to make their work easier. He equally promised more government support to improve on the agricultural sector in Cameroon. Minister Essimi Menye was accompanied to Ndop by the Minister Delegate in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Clementine Ananga Messina.

The Mayor of Ndop and a farmer representative presented the problems of farmers in the region such as the lack of farm inputs, lack of farm-to-market roads, among others.