Agriculture – Over 1,000 Farmers Receive FCFA 360 Million Assistance

Kimeng Hilton Ndukong

26 June 2011

FCFA 360 million was on Thursday June 23 in Yaounde offered to 18 farmer groupings from 11 Divisions of the Centre and South Regions by the Project for the Improvement of Agricultural Competiveness, PACA, as part of government’s efforts to increase agricultural production and productivity.

Signing the funding agreements at the Mvog-Betsi Zoo conference hall, the Centre Regional Delegate for Agriculture and Rural Development, Gabriel Mbolo Mbolo, said the non-refundable funding demonstrated government’s concern for the plight of farmers. He said the financial assistance was for 10 farmer groupings in livestock farming and eight others in crop farming; specifically in poultry, pig, maize, banana/plantain and palm oil processing. He expressed hope that the money would enable the farmers improve their yields, thereby becoming more competitive nationally and in the sub-region.

Gabriel Mbolo Mbolo promised that government will continue to do all in its power to assist farmers, adding that today’s agriculture must live up to the challenges of national and sub-regional demands. He reminded beneficiaries that PACA funds will only be disbursed after they had satisfactorily consumed their 10 per cent share of the joint funding. He warned against breach of PACA rules and regulations, insisting that all procedures must be strictly followed for beneficiaries to obtain maximum results from their projects. He therefore called on the farmers to be good examples of the project.

Earlier, PACA Project Coordinator for Centre and South Regions, Georges Armand Nkoum Ntyam, had trained representatives of beneficiary groups in PACA record keeping, contract award, and accounting and expenditure procedures. Reacting on behalf of recipients, Sebastien Ottou expressed gratitude to government for the assistance, saying it would help resolve problems of hunger as well as improve their farming. He promised to put the training received to good use in order to become truly competitive in their farming. He appealed to his colleagues not to let government down.

Since the beginning of this year, a total of 86 farmer groupings have received funding worth more than FCFA one billion from PACA in the Centre and South Regions. At least a hundred more groups are expected to receive funding by the end of the year. PACA is a World Bank-funded project that offers non-refundable financing in crop and animal agriculture.

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