Of estimated 2000 billion for agriculture, 1500 billion yet to be mobilized

Cameroon met with its technical and financial partners to mobilize more than 1,500 billion FCFA ($3 billion) for the financing of its National Agricultural Investment Plan (PNIA).

The team, who met on Monday in Yaounde, considered it as a tool for the improvement of the productivity of this sector and national economic growth.

Mechanism related to the implementation of the comprehensive Programme for the Development of Agriculture in Africa (PDDA) adopted by the African Union (AU) in order to encourage its Member States to boost this sector and make it competitive, the National Agricultural Investment Plan (PNIA) was validated in April 2014 by the Cameroonian government.

Its cost was estimated at a height of 3,551 billion FCFA ($7,102 billion) for the period 2014-2020. With its own contribution, the government announced that is has already recorded commitments of funding for 2.042 billion FCFA ($4,084 billion).

Among these funds, more than 600 million euros equivalent to about 400 billion FCFA, from technical and financial partners together in the multi-stakeholder Committee, the Ambassador of Germany in Cameroon, Holger Mahnicke, revealed Monday in Yaoundé

“These are programs that are already underway which I mentioned the amount of EUR 600 million. Each partner must now define what the other possibilities are and its availability to support the efforts of Cameroon,” the German diplomat said in an interview with Xinhua.

“In Germany, we accord priority focus on the development of the agricultural sector during the recent governmental negotiations and will be given following this program probably during the negotiations that will take place the next year between the government of Germany and the government of Cameroon,” he added.

Germany has, for the time being, made available more than 50 million euros (32.5 billion CFA francs) for this program, according to Mr. Mahnicke.

For round table scheduled Tuesday on the sidelines of the conference for the mobilization of resource "business meeting" for the financing of the national agricultural investment Plan" open Monday, Yaoundé authorities intend to raise 1,500 billion FCFA

One third of this amount will be provided by the government itself, which is about 500 billion FCFA ($1 billion), Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Essimi Menye announced.

According to certain indiscretions, funding of almost 200 billion FCFA (400 million dollars) will be provided by the African Development Bank (ADB).

In General, the objective of PNIA is to increase public budgets dedicated to the rural sector, in response to a recommendation by the African Union to its Member States having prescribed an average of 10%. Until 2014, Cameroon had not yet been able to achieve half of this standard; its percentage is estimated at approximately 4.5%.

However, the country has an "agro-pastoral and fishery potential,” according to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural development. Resolved to make its PNIA "an effective tool for implementing the agricultural policy" which puts forward the concept of second generation agriculture, the government now intends to promote the expansion of agricultural trade, through the establishment of value chains.

He said he will take into account both the concerns of family farms and those average farms and great importance, i.e. industrial. To do this, the effective private sector involvement is part of priorities with the improvement of incentives for small-scale producers.

Pending the development of new skills, the implementation of this programme will however face constraints at the beginning, which lays in the insufficiency of quality human resource namely agricultural technicians, due to weak support from farmers.

Technical and financial partners invited the government to further clarify "its priorities in terms of support needs.”

“We also deem it appropriate to harmonize the terms running PNIA with those of other ongoing processes in Cameroon, as the Strategy for Development of the Rural Sector (SDSR),” stressed the Ambassador of Germany.