Who are Cameroonian farmers feeding?

The Northwest Region has for long been referred to as the breadth basket of Cameroon. With recent developments it seems something bigger will need to add to this discription.

The particular case of the Northwest is our concern as the region now opens to other parts of Africa either through legal or eligal routes. With little or no control it is easy to go out of the region through Donga Mantung, Momo, Ngoketunjia and Mezam Divisions.

The cases of Donga Mantung and Ngoketunjia might have been for a while now but the Mezam and Momo cases are those practically hitting on the nerve center of Cameroon's economy now: Agriculture.

In almost every househood in Bamenda there is a poultry or piggery. Farms are everywhere producing lots of quality food stuff: cabbage, huckleberry, plantain, cassava, cocoayams, assorted fruits you name it. Yet people are hungry, food is dumped and wasted in markets around the region and children are dying of malnutrition.

And so who are these farmers feeding?

In search for the answer to this question, we visited the Bamenda food market just to realised that prices of basic food items like tomatoes, egg, plantain, maize, beans, green spices and others have increased tremendously.

Talking to a few farmers it emerged from our conversations that the prices have changed seriously in the farms from where they buy. "Thing dem dong dear for farm ya ma pikin." An old retailer said meaning the prizes of things have increased in the farm. Quizzed on where the farm is she quickly replied saying "if no be Santa then na Kumbo or Wum no ma pikin you be new person?" According to Ma Maggi I had to know that the major supplies of food to Bamenda are Santa, Kumbo or Wum.

I now had to set for Santa at least the closest of them to Bamenda known for large scale gardening. on arrival in Santa Dias directed I was welcomed by heavy duty trucks with assorted vegetables being loaded. Truck one's direction was Gabon, Truck two Gabon, truck three Equatorial Guinea. The loading speed was high as the farmers looked on.

Asking a few of the farmers to sell some of the vegetables to me, they said they had all been sold. I now asked how much only for someone to quickly answer questioning "can you buy? I said yes and asked how much only for this young farmer to show me a bundle of leaks saying its FCFA 2500. Its the bundle I bought a few years back at FCFA 500. Almost every has tripled repeatedly in Santa.

Check out the price of egg and table birds in Bamenda. You will be surprised at how much expensive these products are these day if at all you will see them. These products are taken away directly from the farms to Nigeria, Gabon or Equatorial Guinea and prices far higher than those of the local market.

Equally directed to go right to Nkobou which I did. I saw five heavy duty trucks with the carriages swallowing different food types still to the above mentioned directions.

Without a corresponding purchasing power from the local market, it is clear Cameroonian farmers will be working for neighbouring Countries leaving the host country with hunger.