Society

Boosting farmers’ output: Experts assess impact of public, private sectors initiatives.

Experts during panel discussion

Some experts have appraised the initiatives of public and private sectors geared towards boosting farmers’ outputs. This was during a panel discussion organised recently in Yaounde by the Cameroon Economic Policy Institute, CEPI, of the Henri Kouam Foundation.
The panel discussion, attended by renowned university lecturers, policy analysts, agriculturalists, and economists, was under the theme: “Private sector and government initiatives to boost farmer production”.

The event was organised as part of a project dubbed “Trade for You” which is powered by US-based Atlas Network.

While expressing CEPI’s commitment to boosting free market ideals and entrepreneurship in Cameroon, the founder, Henri Kouam, noted that the event was aimed at analysing and illustrating the initiatives taken by the government to stimulate the agricultural sector, the evolution of Cameroon's agricultural policy, amongst other issues.

“Cameroon's second and sixth largest exports are cocoa beans ($647 million) and bananas ($266 million), respectively and agriculture employs over 70% of the workforce. However, it is uncertain how public and private sector policies have interacted to support the sector,” the founder said.

Revisiting the development of Cameroon’s agricultural policy, he explained that it could be divided into four phases from independence till the 2000s, characterised by a proliferation of new agricultural interventions, reform attempts at agricultural policy and finally, agricultural policy liberalisation.

He added that between 2010 and 2020, the government legislated a reduction in Value Added Tax on the purchase of pesticides, fertilisers, inputs, equipment and other materials in a bid to support the agriculture, livestock and fishing sectors.

Participants poses with experts after deliberation

On his part, Dr Bin Joachem Meh, a researcher and university lecturer, argued that the New Agricultural Policy between 1990 and 1998 had focused on consolidating the achievements in both self-sufficiency and export income, and the significant improvement of performance in the sector.

He equally indicated that archaic agriculture methods have to be addressed to boost output and the country should accelerate the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, to better support agriculture exports and the industrialisation of the sector.

Meanwhile, agripreneur, Benoit Zogo, emphasised that the government’s youth plan is instrumental in encouraging the youths in the agriculture sector and the need to train, educate and improve the functioning of the sector.

In a bid to facilitate the development of the sector, the panelist recommended the increase of tax holiday of up to three years for new businesses, the lowering taxation rates from 33% and enhancing farmers’ capacities and marketability of their products through formal and informal mechanisms.