Cameroon mid-February cocoa farm gate prices rise

Cocoa farmgate prices in Cameroon, Africa's fourth-largest grower, have risen as the main harvest ends with few crops on the market but farmers fear the long dry season may lead to capsid disease, according to field reports on Monday.

A kilogramme of cocoa is being sold at 1,375 CFA francs, up from 1,235 CFA francs last month, said Alphone Emmanuel Nguile, a grower in Bafia in the Centre Region and vice president of the Cameroon Cocoa and Coffee Farmers Association (APCCC).

"Our fear is that 5-10 percent of our crop could be destroyed by the capsid disease before the mid-harvest period kicks off because of the long dry season and the fact that farmers are not provided funds to tackle the disease," he said, adding that insects have attacked some trees causing them to whither.

Growers in Kumba in the South West region and Sangmelima and Ebolowa in the South Region echoed his views. Cocoa, one of the country's main cash crops is grown mainly in four of Cameroon's 10 regions.