Supporting food security in rural areas: SMEs Promotion Agency staff drilled to appropriate project.

The seminar kicked off in Obala, Lekie Division, of the Centre Region Thursday. It is taking place at the Obala Agricultural Institute, IAO. 

The opening ceremony of the two-day gathering, which wraps up today, was presided over by the General Manager of the SMEPA, Jean Marie Louis Badga. 

Also in attendance was the Deputy Director General, Ewusi Eric, Directors, Sub-Directors, and Heads of SMEPA regional branch offices.

The main objective of the capacity building seminar is to train participants to better understand and take ownership of the SECAL project. 

This, they said, is to give the implementation of the project a real impetus. The workshop, it was disclosed, will give SMEPA staff the opportunity to understand the objectives of the project and expected indicators. 

The gathering, we it was further revealed, shall also present the platform to draw up the various roadmaps for the activities to be carried out and master the expected results. 

Enter SMEPA General Manager 

Speaking during the opening of the seminar, the General Manager of SMEPA, Jean Marie Louis Badga, said it will enable all collaborators to have the same level of information about the implementation of the project. 

Through the various presentations, exchanges and workshops, the SMEPA boss said, they will be able to immerse themselves in the spirit of the project. 

Badga emphasised that the project will be carried out in such a way as to integrate a synergy of action with the other operators of the programme. 

He seized the occasion to urged participants to apply rigour and discipline in order to obtain the required results. 

“This seminar is aimed to inform all our collaborators to make sure that they have the right information so that we can easily conduct this program for promoting food security in rural areas. We are working with them to make sure that they understand the program to promote food security in the rural areas,” he said. 

The SMEPA boss seized the occasion to announce the start of the project “maybe in October”. He said five regions shall benefit from the project viz; Littoral, West, Centre, Far North and North regions. 

About SECAL 

The General Manager of SMEPA said the SECAL project aims to make a lasting contribution to job creation, inclusive growth and food security in Cameroon by improving the ecosystem of rural businesses.

To this end, a financing agreement was signed on November 17, 2023, between the Cameroon and France. 

The agreement, Badga said, provides for the financial assistance of 16 million Euro, about 10,495,312,000 FCFA for the implementation of the programme for a three-year period.

Additional funding of €5 million (approximately over 3.2 billion FCFA) from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs will enable the programme to be extended to the South West Basin and strengthen the existing Loan of Trust Scheme. 

Also, on June 28, 2024, the Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, MINEPAT, signed an order establishing, organising and operating the institutional framework of the SECAL. 

This Project contributes to achieving some of the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, in particular the reduction of poverty and hunger as well as contributing to measures to combat climate change through the promotion of agro-ecology.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue N0:3221 of Friday September 6, 2024