Sodecoton aims to produce 267,000 tons in 2016

The Company for the Development of Cotton (Sodecoton), the flagship agro-industrial company in northern Cameroon, aims at producing 267,000 tons in 2016. This figure was revealed last week during a site visit by the Minister of Agriculture, Henri Eyebe Ayissi.

In spite of this forecast, the management of this para-public company decried the severity of the drought this year especially in the northern part of the country. However, thanks to irrigation techniques practised by cotton farmers for many years, this climatic caprice should not affect production much as is expected at Sosucam (the Cameroon Sugar Company), where they fear a decrease of 8% in initial production targets.

It is recalled, that to finance its 2016 campaign, Sodecoton raised in February 2016, an envelope of FCfa 35 billion (extendable to FCfa 40 billion according to the needs of the company) through a consortium of five local banks. As usual, the operation was piloted by the Commercial Bank of Cameroon (CBC). These funds will be used to purchase cotton from 250,000 producers that the company supports in the Extreme North of Cameroon.