business plan agriculture cameroun

Cameroon Country Strategic Plan (2022–2026)

Operation id: cm02.

CSP approved at the EB February 2022 session.

Revision 01 approved by the CD in September 2022.

Despite some economic progress as a lower-middle-income country, Cameroon enters the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals enduring recurrent climatic shocks, unrelenting civil conflict and persistent challenges from acute and chronic food and nutrition insecurity.

The severity of the humanitarian needs in Cameroon is increasing as climatic shocks and stressors (floods and drought), prolonged regionalized conflicts, insecurity and related population displacements and the negative health and socioeconomic impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic further erode the weakened resilience of households, bringing food and nutrition insecurity to areas not previously affected.

WFP therefore proposes a five-year country strategic plan that is aligned with national and United Nations priorities and is designed to assist the country in arresting and reversing the deterioration in its food security and nutrition situation in recent years, recalibrating collective efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 and positioning WFP and its partners to effect tangible progress towards zero hunger over the course of the subsequent strategic plan period, through to the milestone year 2030.

Building on a national consensus about applying resilience approaches appropriately across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, this country strategic plan embodies the agenda both to save lives and change lives and WFP, accordingly, will continue to meet critical needs while working with partners to progressively tailor resilience-building activities; leveraging joint opportunities to support national systems; and advocating targeted, equitable and shock-responsive safety nets and social protection programmes. With a focus on 2030, WFP will prioritize approaches that are sustainable, scalable and replicable.

Leveraging its comparative advantages in Cameroon, WFP will deliver as follows on five strategic outcomes: 

➢ For strategic outcome 1, to ensure that people are better able to meet their food and essential needs, WFP will support crisis-affected populations – including refugees, internally displaced persons, returnees and host populations – seeking safe access to adequate and nutritious food during and after crises.

➢ For strategic outcome 2, to ensure that people have better nutrition and health outcomes, WFP will support children 6–23 months of age, adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and other nutritionally vulnerable groups in prioritized regions seeking to improve their nutrition-status and increase their resilience through safe year-round access to adequate and nutritious food.

➢ For strategic outcome 3, to ensure that people have improved livelihoods and increased resilience to shocks and stressors, WFP will assist food-insecure and climate-affected populations and smallholder farmers seeking enhanced self-reliance, productivity, and resilience to shocks.

➢ For strategic outcome 4, to strengthen national programmes and systems, WFP will work with national institutions and partners to enable them to better manage food and nutrition programmes and social protection systems.

➢ For strategic outcome 5, to ensure that humanitarian and development actors are more efficient and effective WFP will assist the humanitarian community in Cameroon in its efforts to respond to emergencies and reach vulnerable populations throughout the year.

To implement the country strategic plan the WFP country office in Cameroon will embrace humanitarian principles and ensure that cross-cutting concerns on gender, disability, nutrition, HIV/AIDS, protection and accountability to affected populations are integrated into its programmatic approaches. Embracing conflict sensitivity across its portfolio of activities, WFP will ensure that its interventions contribute to peace and stability, when possible and appropriate, addressing emergency needs through hunger-reducing activities. The country office will be guided by WFP‘s updated corporate approach to access.

The country strategic plan is strategically aligned with the Government’s national development strategy for 2020–2030, the 2021 humanitarian response plan, the United Nations sustainable development cooperation framework for 2022–2026 and WFP’s strategic plan for 2022–2025. It is informed by experience and evidence, especially that revealed by the 2016 national zero hunger strategic review and the 2020 United Nations common country assessment.

WFP’s plans in Cameroon seek to address both immediate and medium-to-long-term programmatic needs. Across the period covered by this country strategic plan and the next, the country office will look to broaden its role from that of an operational partner implementing food and nutrition assistance programmes to that of a provider of focused and systems-based technical support and institutional capacity strengthening to support food security and social protection.

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Modernizing agricultural value chains in Cameroon

GAFSP helps build a more productive and efficient agricultural sector in Cameroon through better access to finance and competitive supply chains

About the Project

Africa has 25 percent of the world’s arable land but only generates 10 percent of global agricultural output. Growing throughout the continent is mostly artisanal with low levels of mechanization and productivity. There is a development imperative to help farmers in Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa to shift from the predominant traditional subsistence agriculture to commercial and market-oriented agriculture primarily through the development of strong value chains. 

In Cameroon, agriculture contributes more than 20 percent of non-oil gross domestic product and employs 60 percent of the active population, 75 percent of which are women. The Government of Cameroon’s 2009–2019 “ Growth and Employment Strategy ” identifies the agriculture sector as the engine for economic growth and job creation and recognizes the need for agricultural diversification, increased productivity, and large-scale investments in the sector.

This joint US $6 million World Bank/IFC solution focuses on the three largest value chains in Cameroon—namely cassava, maize, and sorghum—which are grown by over 75 percent of the farms. The project is part of a comprehensive initiative that pulls together public and private partners and resources to support the sustainable development of agriculture in the country.

Working alongside BICEC, one of the top banking networks in Cameroon and part of the French banking group BPCE, this project allows IFC—with GAFSP support—to build a more productive and efficient agricultural sector in Cameroon through better access to finance and competitive supply chains. 

This project will target poverty reduction by supporting the provision of access to credit and productive assets to producer organizations. This will enable GAFSP and IFC to help intensify production systems and contribute to increased production, food security and competitiveness as well as to improved livelihoods and reduced poverty for beneficiaries. 

Through increased access to finance and growth, this project will contribute to promote shared prosperity, measured by monitoring increased employment, particularly in terms of incremental on- and off-farm employment as well as additional jobs created by agribusiness buyers. 

The increased agricultural growth that results from this project will play a key role in addressing food insecurity and will contribute to improving the livelihood of vulnerable rural population groups in Cameroon. 

Project Status

Supervising entity

150,000 farmers across Cameroon will benefit from this project

By supporting the provision of access to credit this project will help intensify production systems and contribute to increased production, food security, and competitiveness, as well as to improved livelihoods and reduced poverty for up to 150,000 farmers across Cameroon. 

New direct and indirect jobs, on- and off-farm

Through increased access to finance and growth, the project will contribute to promote shared prosperity, measured by monitoring employment within the larger joint project, particularly in terms of incremental on- and off-farm employment as well as additional jobs created by agribusiness buyers. 

Increased food security among farmers and their families

Increased agricultural growth as a result of this project will play a key role in addressing food insecurity and will contribute to improving the livelihood of vulnerable rural population groups in Cameroon.

Mr. Niraj Shah

Head, GAFSP Private Sector Window 

[email protected]

Washington, DC 

Tel: 202 473 3743

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OpenHub Digital

Start, Run & Grow Your Business

How to start a farming business in Cameroon

Starting a commercial farming business in Cameroon is very lucrative and easy. Lucrative in the sense that there is a readily available market. Easy because there is enough fertile land that is underutilized. Last week, I talked about investment opportunities in sorghum, maize and cassava production . I will share with you today ideas on how to start a farming business in Cameroon.

Agriculture has been very vital in the economy of Cameroon. If you didn’t know, it employs about half the work force of the country. We have agro-industrial plantations like the Cameroon Development Corporation, CDC, which is the second employer in the country after the government. Statistics also show that there are more then 2 million small scale family farms.

Table of Contents

Commercial agriculture is no longer export-oriented only

However, many think commercial agriculture is supposed to be export-oriented. When you talk commercial agriculture in Cameroon, many think of cocoa, coffee, banana, rubber, and so on which all target the export market. However, it is not the case today because we find crops like maize, sorghum, cassava that were food crops turn into cash crops.

Another strange phenomenon is that there is a readily available market locally as well. Not a market for subsistence consumption, but for agro-industrial consumption. This means, if you can come up with a good business plan, feasibility studies and a proper market research, then you will be in business. This will help ease things out when you have to market your produce.

The growth in food processing sector

The food processing industry has seen a great increase lately and will continue to grow. A lot of made-in-Cameroon products from local farm produces can be found in the market and counters of supermarkets. The increasing rate of food processing business and the growing demand from local consumers for made-in-Cameroon products means your farm business will succeed.

So if you have been planning to start a farming business in Cameroon, do not be afraid. Engaging in commercial farming will help you to maximize resources. You can decide to go in for mix farming that includes crop production as well as keeping livestock (animals, poultry or fish farming). Let’s checkout some of the things you will need to start a commercial farming business in Cameroon.

What you need to start a farming business in Cameroon

1. business plan.

A business plan is usually regarded as a road map for your business. Having a business plan put in place will help you in easily getting out with you farming business. The business plan will help you keep in mind the remaining other points. You need to evaluate your strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

2. Farm location

You need to look for a location that will be suitable for the type of product you want to produce. You should also take into consideration the space limitations. If you are going in for say maize or sorghum production, then you have to think of the climate also.

3. Equipment, input or materials

You will need to budget for equipment, inputs, land and materials needed for you to start a farm. The basic or must have is land which you can either buy or rent. You can find farming land almost every where in Cameroon depending on what you want to produce and where you want to produce.

4. Human resources and training

We are talking here about a commercial farming business so having a trained hand is very necessary. You need to have at least a trained agro-technician if you are going in for crop production or a livestock expert if you are into animal husbandry.

5. Knowledge of the market

As earlier said, carrying out a thorough marketing research is very necessary when you want to start a farming business in Cameroon. Your market position is very important, hence you have to be very careful with this point. You need to make sure what you want to do

• is practical and is needed or will fill a need,
• you know very well the competition,
• the advantages your business will have over existing farm businesses or
• if your services will be better than that of competition and
• can you actually make your customer see the need for your product (create demand)

6. Production plan

A business plan needs to have a production plan where you explain the day-to-day operations of the business. You have to put in place plans on how the farm operates and what it is going to produce for the market. These includes things like land, equipment, buildings, inputs, processes as well as laws and regulations that governs the sector.

To start a business, you need a business plan whether it is just on a piece of paper or what some call a formal business plan . However, in the case of a commercial farming business, you will need to have a formal business plan with details.

You may want to go into this business but writing a business plan is your limit. You don’t have to bother about this because you can get in touch with us and in less than no time, you will have a concise business plan that will help you start a farming business in Cameroon.

That’s not all, we also help

• register or incorporate your business – going commercial means you need to register your business
• to coach and train you on how to manage your farm business
• expose your business to the public or potential customers to know you by designing a content-rich responsive website
• help build your reputation by providing you with high quality search engine optimized content and social media marketing services

It is now left for you to decide on getting in touch with us below in other to start, run and grow your business in Cameroon.

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4 thoughts on “ How to start a farming business in Cameroon ”

• Pingback: What is a business plan? Who is supposed to use it? | OpenHub Digital

thanks i am very interested in the commercial agriculture

Hello Tiwara, There are a lot of opportunities in commercial agriculture in Cameroon. A lot of tools put in place by the government to support this sector. Get in touch with us for more info on this: [email protected]

• Pingback: How to start a farming business in Cameroon - OpenHub Consulting Ltd

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