Cameroon launches AgriConnect to boost food production and create more farming jobs

The sector contributes about 17 percent of Cameroon’s gross domestic product and employs 42 percent of its workforce, most of them on smallholder farms.

Cameroon has launched the AgriConnect Compact with the World Bank Group to expand food production, create jobs and improve food security for millions of people. The initiative brings together public institutions, investors, development partners and producer organisations to address the infrastructure, financing and policy challenges facing the country's food sector.

The sector contributes about 17 percent of Cameroon's gross domestic product and employs 42 percent of its workforce, most of them on smallholder farms. Agriculture generates more than half of the country's non-oil export earnings, making improvements in productivity and market opportunities important to household incomes and the wider economy.

Eight priority sectors at the centre of the plan

The Compact focuses on eight agricultural and food value chains: maize, rice, cassava, oil palm, cocoa, soybeans, dairy, and fisheries and aquaculture. Investment in agricultural infrastructure and services will be combined with policy reforms and wider access to finance. These measures are intended to attract private investment, help producers increase output and reduce Cameroon's dependence on imported food.

Job creation is a central part of the initiative, including opportunities for young people in agriculture and related businesses.

"What drives us in AgriConnect is the conviction that Cameroonian agriculture can feed Cameroon, create opportunities for its youth, and become an engine of shared prosperity," said Cheick F. Kante, World Bank Division Director for Cameroon. Kante said coordinated public and private investment would be essential to turning the Compact's food security and employment goals into lasting benefits for Cameroonians.

National priorities guide investment and delivery

The Compact follows Cameroon's National Development Strategy, known as NDS30, its Rural Sector Development Strategy and National Agricultural Investment Plan for 2020–2030, and the Integrated Agricultural and Fisheries Import Substitution Program, known as PIISAH. This connection to existing plans gives government bodies, development partners and businesses a common framework for deciding where resources should go and how projects should be delivered.

Alamine Ousmane Mey, Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, said the Compact would help bring national and international resources together around clearly defined priorities. "By anchoring this initiative in our national planning framework, we are equipping ourselves to achieve a sustainable structural transformation of our economy for the benefit of all Cameroonians," he said.

A Steering Committee will oversee the Compact, jointly chaired by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries. The Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development will ensure alignment with national priorities, with private-sector representatives and development partners participating in oversight. Technical Working Groups will coordinate delivery across three areas: strengthening agricultural foundations, reforming sector policies and developing the financial ecosystem.

Partners bring funding, research and practical expertise

The Compact was developed through consultations with producer organisations, businesses and international financial and development partners.

These included the World Bank Group, African Development Bank, European Union, French Development Agency, International Fund for Agricultural Development and Japan International Cooperation Agency. Their involvement provides a basis for coordinating support around the government's agricultural priorities.

Implementation will draw on expertise from United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, national and international research centres, universities, technical and vocational education institutions, and non-governmental and professional organisations.

Their contributions will cover research, standards, statistics, agricultural extension and capacity building through the Compact's operational plans. That work will support the practical delivery of improvements in farming, food production and the services producers need to build stronger businesses.