FCFA 1.5 billion to be mobilized for modernization of agriculture

A preparatory meeting for the resource mobilization conference was held Friday in Yaounde.

From 16 to 17 September, Yaounde will host the "Business Meeting", a meeting of development partners as well as players in the national agricultural and rural sector.

The meeting aims to mobilize resources to finance the National Agricultural Investment Plan (NAIP) of Cameroon. FCFA 1.5 billion is expected at the end of the meeting, according to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MINADER), Essimi Menye.

The first preparatory meeting for this event was held on Friday in Yaounde for the individual participants. They were informed about the program of the "Business Meeting". They presented the NIPA, adopted in April 2014, which is the implementation strategy of national priorities for agricultural development. The Yaoundé meeting should help fill the financial gap found in the planning activities necessary to implement this plan.

It was an opportunity for MINADER to recall that "the program will mainly develop the capacity already present by promoting the production consumed locally and exported. For this, the modernization proves a major challenge."

"We will intensify mechanization and processing. The State does not replace but rather supports the Cameroonian private sector that is going to invest so that we can revitalize production and boost growth," said Essimi Menye.

NIPA will promote and encourage the production and distribution of seed mechanization and commercialization. Road construction is also one of the plan's development priorities.

"We need development partners to help us continue to build these roads that will enable all to go to the fields," the minister said.