A three-day workshop held in Buea, South West Region, during which stakeholders examined the cassava project.
Opened by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Gabriel Mbairobe, the workshop that held from June 14 to June 16, was to finalize the project. The minister said he expects the final document to meet the needs of funding partners and beneficiaries.
The project would curb food insecurity and put more money in the wallets of farmers. The project seeks to increase cassava production from the current 5.5 million tons to 10 million tons by 2030 and yields between 25 and 30 tons per hectare. When it comes to value chain, it is aiming at 150,000 tons of cassava flour per year, opening up new production basins, produce more derivatives and find markets for these products. The projects wants the transformation of 80 % of cassava into derivatives such as flour, starch, chips, garri, fufu, pastry and its leaves as a vegetable, livestock feed and organic manure for use as raw materials in the agro-food, pharmaceutical, textile industries, and households in Cameroon, and the sub-region. With this transformation, the sector will create over 80,000 badly needed jobs, improve the situation of 800,000 producers and involve more than 1,600 around research.
Thereafter, the project will grow cassava on 50,000 hectares and acquire equipment that intervenes in the production.
Government’s ambition is to cut importation of products derived from cereals like wheat by making sure the supply of substitutes like maize, sorghum, soybeans, potatoes, cassava, plantain and other crops meet local needs. Cassava comes after wheat and rice as the most consumed agricultural product. Taking the workshop to the South West region is intentional. The South West Region produces close to 1 million tons of cassava annually. Garri, water fufu, flour-based meals, miondo, and bobolo made out of cassava and its leaves are heavily consumed. The region sells to Douala, and countries like Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. Thus, the South West region is an important entity in the cassava business.
Jude VIBAN
