IN THE FIELD
“Love is like young rice: transplanted, still it grows” African proverb
S ituated in central Africa, Cameroon lies firmly in the bottom half of the Global Hunger Index 2022 – coming 80th out of 125 countries is bad news for the 28 million people who live there. Malnutrition is rife with over 40 percent of women suffering anemia, almost 30 percent of children underdeveloped below the age of 5, and over 10 percent of babies born underweight. The key to reversing these worrying trends lies in the wetland grass, Oryza, more commonly known as rice. This humble grain – the world’s third-largest crop by production quantity after sugarcane and maize – is one of the staple foods in Cameroon with annual consumption of around 25 kilograms per capita. But demand has greatly outpaced supply, approaching half a million tons per year, which over the last three years forced Cameroon to make up for that gap by importing around two million tons of rice – at a cost of US$877 million. That was the stark backdrop to an OPEC Fund mission to Yaoundé, Cameroon in September 2023, where Country Manager Malak Draz had come to appraise the Rice Value Chain Development Project with co- financing partners from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) and Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). Additional partners include the Kuwait Fund as well as potentially the Saudi Fund for Development and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development. The project aims to boost food security and cut rural poverty by fostering high-potential value chains in rice production, processing and commercialization. Total project cost
is estimated at US$170 million, of which the OPEC Fund is set to provide a US$25 million loan. In practical terms, that means investments in 7,000 hectares of rice paddy fields, improved farming and post-harvest equipment, 650km of access roads from farms to markets, more than 50 storage warehouses, training for over 200,000 stakeholders and field placements for young graduates. “We want to satisfy national consumption and modernize rice production. Today, only plowing is mechanized. So we plan to modernize the harvest, storage and hulling so that we increase the national supply,” said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Gabriel Mbairobe. The OPEC Fund mission met with three Cameroonian ministers – the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Minister of Public Works and the Minister of Minister of State Property and Land Tenure – as well as the deputy Minister of Economy,
Planning and Regional Development. Talks were also held on relevant projects with IsDB and BADEA project teams and the Caisse Autonome d’Amortissement, the public spending watchdog. OPEC Fund mission leader Ms. Draz said: “Beyond this important project, this was a great opportunity to re-engage with the government on new potential public sector investments in the agriculture and transport sectors. I was able to meet with several ministers and senior officials and we had very fruitful discussions.”
Cameroon imports around 2 million
tons of rice at a cost of US$877M
CAMEROON AND THE OPEC FUND
Employing over 60 percent of the labor force and generating 15 percent of GDP, the agriculture sector is a top priority for Cameroon – a fact reflected in the National Development Strategy (2020-2030) and in the stated aim of achieving food self-sufficiency by 2035. Yet, despite abundant natural resources, the agriculture sector remains uncompetitive and unable to fulfill its potential. To address these shortcomings, the Rice Value Chain Development Project aims to increase rice production and productivity among smallholder farmers in the northwest, west and far north
regions of Cameroon, which are most vulnerable to food insecurity. The project dovetails with the OPEC Fund’s Food Security Action Plan and Climate Action Plan and will contribute to alleviating poverty, promoting sustainable production, increasing public-private partnerships and creating rural employment. From an environmental and social perspective, the project was rated low risk by co- financing partners at the IsDB thanks to various positive impacts, including efficient use of water for irrigation and improved management of rice farmlands.
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