Increase Local Production

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Increase Local Production

24 juin 2022 19:12

The ongoing war in Ukraine is an eye opener not only for Cameroon but for African in general which depends largely on imports for sustainability. The over dependence on imported chemical fertilizer by Cameroon is today having a heavy impact on the agricultural sector and it is feared that yields of major export crops might drop drastically in the near future. This is because imported fertilizer is not only scarce but very expensive as the cost has practically tripled from FCFA 16,000 to about FCFA 45,000. Few farmers can afford it and even those who can, have limited the quantity. In fact, Russia alone supplies 43 per cent of fertilizers used in Cameroon and the Russia-Ukraine conflict has disrupted supply chains. The situation is mind bugging on why Cameroon largely depends on imported chemical fertilizer which in some cases is even harmful to the health of persons and the environment to locally made organic fertilizer. The unanswered questions remains at the production level because Cameroon has been unable to produce organic fertilizer despite millions of tons of household organic and animal waste produced daily in the country. The potential to produce compost fertilizer for example is enormous but the will is lagging. Technically, Cameroonians lack the skills and the means. The few initiatives that exist do production only for family use and to a lesser extent, friends and associates.

Even the little production is not adequately vulgarize. Most farmers are not aware of such productions probably because the production cannot meet up with demand, producers tend to keep the information to themselves. Imagine whopping sums of over FCFA 44 billion spent each year to import some 120,000 tons of fertilizer. If the local fertilizer industry is developed from the abundant organic waste produced, the currency spent in foreign markets will be ploughed back home and thousands of jobs will be created.While we are saluting and encouraging the few initiatives...