16 warehouses constructed for rice, onion storage

Sixteen warehouses have been constructed for the storage of rice and onions in Cameroon

This is one of progress made in five years after the launch of a project dedicated to these sectors and is currently being evaluated.

From 2010 to 2015, the Development of Agro-Industries Project (Padfa) has supported small-scale rice and onions production in Cameroon.

According to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the main financier of the project, the time is ripe for an evaluation of progress made. An expert mission of the organization has been in Cameroon since November 2. For about three weeks, the IFAD has been in the Northern Regions of the Far North and West, for project deployment sites.

Before going on the ground, IFAD mission started with meeting officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MINADER). During a meeting with Secretary General of MINADER, Jean Claude Eko'o Akouafane, the Resident Representative of Padfa, Bernard Minwel Hien, said "It will be to audit Padfa's progress towards formulating recommendations for the achievement of its results."

A supervision mission of the program conducted in April revealed a performance improvement of lowland rice (3.5 to 5.5 tons per hectare). Other positive points also included the formation of producer organizations in 1276, the development of 328 hectares of lowlands and the construction of 16 warehouses.

Despite these remarkable achievements, some hallenges remain: "We still have to develop market information systems and support the establishment of a steering part," said Felix Bokagne Bobiondo, National Coordinator of Padfa.

In the short term, he added: "We want to cover 1 200 producer organizations for production estimated at 25 000 tonnes of rice and 1,200 ha of onion areas for average yields which to reach 50 000 tonnes globally.

The FIDA experts will, therefore, focus on the development records and verify their impact. Also, anything that involves the performance of the analysis in terms of coordination and results based on monitoring and evaluation among others.

On November 20, the date of the end of the mission, the experts will make a return to MINADER.