Implementing import-substitution policy: Gov’t targeting over 750,000 tonnes of high-quality rice by 2030.

The target was announced during the first Steering Committee Meeting of the PRODERIP-RCV Project Phase III. The project is powered by the Japanese government through the Japan International Cooperation Agency, JICA.

The Steering Committee Meeting, which held in Yaounde on Friday, October 11, 2024, was chaired by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Gabriel Mbairobe, who doubles as President of the Steering Committee.   

Speaking during the ceremony, the member of government saluted the level of cooperation between the governments of Japan and Cameroon. 

“I want to thank the Japanese government and salute the cooperation between Japan and Cameroon government in the agriculture sector in general and in the production of rice in particular,” he stated. 

He further explained that since 2011, the Japanese government, through JICA, has supported Cameroon within the framework of PRODERIP-RCV project, which targets the purification of rice seedling, training of producers’ cooperatives and the vulgarisation of two rice varieties. 

The project is being implemented in the North West, West, Centre, South, and East Regions of the country. 

Minister sets target for rice production

While lauding the efforts made by the various stakeholders of the project, the agriculture minister revealed that a target of 750,000 tonnes of rice project has been set in the different rice production basins under the PRODERIP-RCV project. 

He stressed that it is part of initiatives to boost the import substitution policy of the State. According to the minister, the provision of high yield seedling to rice producers is critical to attaining objectives.

“What we have discussed is that the efforts made so far, taking into account our ambition of producing 750,000 tonnes of white rice by 2030 and making Cameroon a rice exportation country, it is important that the cooperation and project move onward to be able to put at the disposal of producers in the North West, East, West and Centre regions at least 1,000 tonnes of rice seedlings of high-quality variety,” he stressed. 

Enter National Coordinator

Going by the PRODERIP-RCV National Coordinator, Bertin Reginald Ze-Nkpwang, they have been assigned the mission to revert the tendency of rice importation in the country.

“It is a colossal objective, but we know that we can benefit from the assistance of our titular ministry. We will continue to implement our usual activities in that light, notably capacity-building of farmers, rice purification, and vulgarisation of all the varieties of rice products we have in the market,” Ze-Nkpwang said. 

He also elucidated that as part of their action plan, PRODERIP-RCV intends to further encourage producers to be more resilient in their ways of production.

He also encouraged all families, where possible, to have small parcels of land for rice production in order to reduce the over dependence on imported rice. 

“That is the challenge we have today and it is not impossible to achieve it. So, it is on us to be able to find solutions and achieve the objectives” he added. 

The PRODERIP-RCV National Coordinator then used the opportunity to urge investors to engage in the local production of rice, which is on high demand in the market.

“We are faced with the challenge of making it available and so this is a wakeup call to investors to understand that there is a ready market in Cameroon and it suffice for them to engage this market…the demand is high but the supply is not enough,” he stressed.

He insisted that rice produced under the PRODERIP-RCV are organic and void of any inorganic chemical usage for the conservation of rice. 

JICA Resident Representative hails project

Speaking to the press, the Resident Representative of JICA in Cameroon, Kageyama Tadashi, explained that the Steering Committee Meeting was to share the results of the activities of the project during the previous phases and as well to finetune the project’s action plan for the following year. 

“In order to support government policy of import substitution JICA is executing project in the field of rice production. We are now in the third phase,” the Japanese official said. 

He further noted that within the framework of the project, Japan has contributed not only in boosting the quantity of rice but also in improving rice quality in Cameroon. 

“Now you can find rice of our project in several supermarkets such Carrefour Wada supermarket. I hope that Cameroon will become a rice production centre in the whole of central Africa Subregion in the near future,” he added. 

This story was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3259 of Monday October 14, 2024