Meme: SOWEDA donates maize threshers, organic fertilisers to farmers.

The South West Development Authority, SOWEDA, donated the items to farmers in Kumba to farmers from different parts of the Division within the framework of implementation of the Emergency Project to Combat Food Crisis in Cameroon, known by its French acronym, PULCCA, in the South West Region.

The donation took place on Saturday October 4, 2025. The beneficiaries came from Konye and Mbonge Subdivisions.

PULCCA is a measure of the government with the technical and financial support of the World Bank to combat food insecurity crisis-affected regions of Cameroon. The Regions include Adamawa, East, Far North, North, North West, and South West. 

Addressing stakeholders during the donation exercise, Hermia Kinge, Second Assistant Senior Divisional Officer of Meme, expressed delight with the initiative in Meme Division by SOWEDA. She said the farm tools and the inputs will go a long way to alleviate poverty, especially with the vulnerable in Meme. 

In this light, she pleaded with the farmers to make the most of the inputs and the equipment they received. 

“I am pleading with the farmers that they should handle these inputs and equipment with care, because the more it lasts, the more their yields will increase in Meme Division and even in Cameroon at large,” she said. 

On his part, the Director of Administration and Finance at SOWEDA, Baloko Benson, who represented the General Manager during the ceremony, said the 17 maize threshers and organic fertilisers will accompany the maize farmers and those who cultivate other plants to boost their production. 

The maize threshers, he added, was a follow up to the high yielding seedlings SOWEDA has previously distributed to the farmers in the area, to reduce the stress of threshing maize with their bare hands. 

The 17 maize threshers will be each distributed to a group of three to four farmers, ensuring that at the end, about 144 farmers will benefit. 

“The message we are giving them is that they should be able to handle these farm tools and inputs well because the Department of Agriculture at SOWEDA will teach them on how to use these inputs and the tools effectively so that they do not damage them,” Baloko said. He noted that the donation was in line with the core mission of SOWEDA. 

“…our main mission is making sure that the farmers of the region have more money in their pockets and to be able to give them very good seeds that will bring about good yields. We are committed to doing this by especially with the PULCCA project to follow up our farmers because we do not just donate; we accompany the farmers in in their farms,” he noted. 

Timely intervention to boost growth

One of the beneficiaries, Ajebe Jimmy, said the organic manure was a timely intervention that will boost the growth of his maize. He said farmers face significant challenges getting such high-quality manure to improve the yields.

Since 2024, the partnership between SOWEDA and PULCCA has recorded successes; identification of 7,750 vulnerable persons from an established database, with 5,800 targeted for effective distribution of various kits.

This includes the distribution of crop and livestock production kits like 3,985,000 cassava cuttings to over 1,594 beneficiaries, 2,170kg of bio stimulant fertilisers, 797 kg of Trichoderma fungicide, and 1,196litres of humic plus to 797 beneficiaries, 5,580 kg of maize seeds to more than 465 beneficiaries, of which 279 were women.

The latest intervention adds to the fight against poverty and food insecurity in the South West Region by SOWEDA as an implementing partner of the PULCCA project’s Component Two, bearing on strengthening the productive capacities of smallholders through crop and livestock support for climate and nutritional resilience. 

SOWEDA to rehabilitate Kumba-Loum Road

Responding to the farmers’ worries on the difficulties faced with transporting their produce to the markets, Baloko Benson, Director of Administration and Finance at SOWEDA, representing the General Manager, said SOWEDA would engage the rehabilitation of the Kumba-Loum Road. 

The road, he said, was strategic for farmers because of the agricultural basins within the road where cocoa, plantain and many other crops are produced.

He revealed that SOWEDA has a convention with the Ministry of Public Works to rehabilitate the stretch of road for three years. 

To make this a reality, he said the institution had engaged with Dangote to arrange with the quarry in Tombel so that they can extract literate to ensure the road can last till when works start in late October.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3587 of Tuesday October 07, 2025