Livestock ministry seals 6.5 billion FCFA partnership to boost dairy, fish production .

This is under the Integrated Import-Substitution Plan for Agropastoral and Fisheries Sectors, PIISAH, for the 2026 financial year.

The ceremony brought together the heads of PIISAH’s executing agencies, including SODEPA, LANAVET, MIDEPECAM, CDPM, CDEN and CDENO, as well as representatives of the Bank for Small and Medium Enterprises, BC-PME, the Urban and Rural Land Development and Equipment Authority, MAETUR and the Kribi Port Authority. 

According to officials, the event followed the recent signing of a strategic partnership between MINEPIA and BC-PME. The agreement, accompanied by an amendment providing an additional 6.5 billion FCFA for the 2026 financial year, is intended to facilitate financing for operators in the dairy cattle and fisheries sectors.

The new resources, we gathered, are expected to improve access to credit for producers, entrepreneurs and processors while supporting productive investments in livestock and aquaculture. 

The finances, officials said, will also target processing, preservation and marketing infrastructure, areas considered essential to ensuring that increased production translates into greater availability of locally produced food.

Speaking during the ceremony, Dr Taïga noted that the partnership is designed to address one of the major constraints facing the import-substitution strategy: access to appropriate financing. 

He stressed that mobilising funds alone would not be sufficient and called for economically viable, bankable and sustainable projects capable of generating measurable production.

“The objective is to produce more and produce better. It is aimed at localising production and ensuring marketing efficiency,” the minister said.

Converting billions mobilised into productive farms

Dr Taïga noted that for the government, the challenge now lies in converting the billions mobilised into productive farms, stronger fisheries value chains, improved processing capacity and, ultimately, more milk and fish produced locally. The success of the new partnership with BC-PME and the support of MAETUR, he stated, will be measured by that transformation.

According to experts, the financing partnership with BC-PME is built around an implementation model involving three key elements: a strong private sector engaged in production, accessible and suitable financing, and political commitment to drive the import-substitution agenda.

The ceremony equally saw the signing of a partnership with the Kribi Port Authority and opens additional prospects for the development of mariculture activities.

Another moment of the ceremony was the partnership signed between MINEPIA and MAETUR. The agreement, officials said, focuses on the development and securing of land suitable for modern livestock farms, aquaculture facilities and fishing infrastructure.

Under the agreement, MAETUR is expected to contribute its expertise in land development, including studies, land-title security and the equipment of identified sites. 

The objective, officials said, is to provide structured and secured locations capable of attracting both public and private investment in livestock and fisheries.

Officials of the different organisation, at the close of the ceremony, laid emphasis on accountability among those responsible for implementing PIISAH. Six performance contracts were signed with SODEPA, LANAVET, MIDEPECAM, CDPM, CDEN and CDENO.

These contracts establish specific responsibilities and measurable objectives for the agencies and are intended to move beyond administrative commitments towards results-oriented implementation.

SODEPA received nearly five billion FCFA to accelerate key projects, including the development of breeding farms and the acquisition of improved-breed pregnant dairy heifers. LANAVET, on the other hand, was allocated about one billion FCFA, which is expected to reinforce animal health and sanitary security.

Other allocations include approximately 200 million FCFA for MIDEPECAM, 407 million FCFA for CDEN, 347 million FCFA for CDENO and 1.045 billion FCFA for CDPM. The resources, we gathered, are intended to strengthen technical capacities, improve access to quality inputs and develop value chains.

According to Souaibou Djimoni, coordinator of the PIISAH sectoral unit at MINEPIA, 11 billion FCFA was mobilised in 2025, with a financial execution rate of 87 percent, while physical execution stood at only 30 percent.

He noted that for 2026, the programme has an allocation of 12.5 billion FCFA, of which 9.6 billion had already been committed at the time of the review.

The official disclosed that production indicators, nevertheless, remain a concern. Milk and fish production recorded increases of only one to two percent, while imports rose between 2024 and 2025, by 29 percent for fish and 11 percent for milk. The figures, he said, underline the gap between the country’s import-substitution ambitions and its current production capacity.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3891 of Thursday August 27, 2026