When hungry Cameroonians smuggle rice to feed neighbours!.

Figures from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development indicate that local production is just 140,170 tons of rice, leaving a yawning gap being filled by importation of 60 percent, with some subsidies for importers.

But the demand at home is often not met and the price continues to soar with some unscrupulous traders packaging rice as 50 kilos, but there have been occasions when staff of the Ministry of Trade swoop in markets in Yaounde to discover that the contents were less than what was indicted on the bags. If that could be happening in Yaounde, then it is everybody's guess what the bizarre situation will be in rural areas. 

Some of the imported rice is smuggled to neighbouring countries like Nigeria, Gabon, Chad and Equatorial Guinea, where importation of rice is either prohibited to protect local farmers or import tariff so high to make that from Cameroon cheaper.

The smuggling is making cost of living unbearable to the average Cameroonian. 

It looks likely, unfortunately, that President Biya is not unaware of the appalling situation.

To begin correcting the situation, the Minister of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, in a circular dated January 14, 2024, instructed Regional Governors to "reactivate, until further notice, the ban on rice re-exportation" in light of "internal food security" concerns.

The ban is said to be part of government's proactive efforts to ensure the stable supply of the crucial food item, amid the current global rice scarcity and rising import prices.

Through the move, government intends to avert any potential rice shortage, especially given the suspension of rice exports by India, which accounts for over 40% of global cereal exports.

Additionally, the measure aims to counter deceptive practices by certain Cameroonian traders who could disrupt the local availability of rice in markets through smuggling and hoarding.

Last month, Minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana announced discussions with the African representative of Amir Chand Jagdish Kumar Export Ltd, an Indian company specialised in the production, processing, and marketing of Indian rice, to facilitate import.

Cameroon, however, cannot continue to rely on importation of rice and fighting smuggling, given the corrupt nature of Cameroonians. It would be hair-splitting to stop smuggling of rice. It is not the first time orders have been given to stop it. 

But take a trip to Idenau Wharf in West Coast Subdivision, Fako Division of the South West Region for instance. It is business as usual, with bags of rice being loaded into boats for Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria. There are several other smuggling routes across the country's porous border, with Nigeria and other neighbouring countries too difficult to halt smugglers.

So, Cameroonians continue to be hungry, despite the huge volume of import. 

As we have had occasion to report before, Cameroonians in five Regions of North West, South West, East, Adamawa and Far North are hungry to the point of requiring an emergency to feed them.

Coming for the rescue is the World Bank, in partnership with the Cameroon government, which, through the Emergency Project to Combat Food Crisis in Cameroon, better known by its French acronym as PULCCA, has adopted the sum of 38 billion FCFA as budget for 2024 to tackle food insecurity in the country.

When adopting the budget in Yaounde recently, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Gabriel Mbairobe, said the money will, among other projects, provide "humanitarian assistance to persons facing food crisis”.

He added that the PULCCA project aims not only to give humanitarian assistance to persons in food crisis situations through the World Food Programme, WFP, but also to strengthen the capacities of small-scale farmers, to enable them to improve on their production and productivity.

The Minister further explained that farmers will also receive some improved seeds, equipment and capacity-building on good practices in agriculture. 

“We urge all the members of the steering committee to work hard so that the resolution can help in the execution of the programme on the field so that by the end of 2025, we should have achieved our objectives,” he said.

The Guardian Post hopes given President Biya's emphasis on "import substitution", government will not only depend on imported rice, but provide local farmers the incentives to grow rice to the point it can restrict importation and make rice smuggling unprofitable.