The programme for the Consolidation and Sustainability of Agro-pastoral Council better known by its French acronym as PCP-ACEFA has boosted the capacity of some 56 agro-pastoral farmers groups drawn from the 8 divisions of the West region.
The council has awarded cheques worth more than 270 million FCFA during a ceremony in Bafoussam on Monday August 3, 2020.
The ceremony was co-chaired by the Regional Delegates of Agriculture and Rural Development, and of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries, Dr Oswald Mpouok.
The farmers groups were urged to put the funds provided into good use in order increase production capacity.
The West Regional Delegate of the Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries, MINEPIA, Dr Oswald Mpouok said
“they have to use this money respecting the project logbook which they have signed with the Programme PCP/ACEFA.”
Each farmers group received an amount ranging from 500,000 to 30million FCFA depending on the worth of their projects.
Following the reception of the funds, the farmers were urged to swing into full action and implement their projects.
“They should implement those projects quickly so that they can improve their production, and increase their revenue to the benefit of the whole country.” said the National coordinator of PCP-ACEFA, Dr Bouba Moumini.
The support to the farmers which comes within the present context of the novel virus, COVID-19, the National Coordinator of the Programme told the workers of the agriculture sector, described as the backbone to the country’s economy, to protect themselves and their families against the pandemic.
“They are the pillars of the economic system of the country, so if they have this Covid-19 the whole country will have a problem.” Dr Moumini opined.
“I urged the farmers to respect barrier measures put in place by the government, against the virus.” He further stated.
The award ceremony, MINEPIA Regional Delegate said, was also meant for them to give some recommendations to the farmers on how to profitably use the funds respecting the terms of agreement signed by both parties.
An overwhelmed beneficiary, Gertrude Ngomnang, said they have been waiting for the fund for long now.
“We have to construct a breeding house. Our objective is to produce from 400 to 600 rabbits. Not to only meet the demands our department but to also be able to meet the demands out of our division and nationwide.” She stated.
Going by Moumini, there will be a follow up of their projects at two levels; internally, the delegations of MINADER and MINEPIA, and externally by the French Development Agency and the Ministry of Finance.
It emerged from the Bafoussam event that, ACEFA is a controlled programed and everything related to the programme needs to be controlled and checked to ensure that it achieves its aims.
Expressing some of their worries, the farmers were advised to meet experts made available to them by the programme so as to achieve expected results.
They were called upon to be transparent and open their doors for controllers at their project sites.
He equally highlighted the role of agriculture must perform in the growth of the Cameroonian economy adding that the funding is expected to encourage production to handle the nation’s food shortage problems and give Cameroonians employment opportunities in the large scale production.
