The World Bank announced in a press release published on December 2, 2021 the allocation of this financing to Cameroon.
The agricultural sector in the Far North region is undermined by increasingly violent climatic hazards due in particular to global warming. To this end, the World Bank announces the approval on November 30 by its Board of Directors of a financing amounting to 116.5 billion CFA francs to support agricultural production in the Logone Valley, located in the Far North region of the country.
"A range of factors, from ecological fragility to violence-related insecurity, have forced Cameroon's agricultural sector to subsistence agriculture with low productivity and low production, particularly in the Far North. Irrigation is fundamental to ensuring food security and helping to reduce the risk of conflict in this Sudano-Sahelian agroecological zone, which is the most ecologically fragile and the most vulnerable to climate shocks." said Abdoulaye Seck, World Bank Country Director for Cameroon in a statement issued on December 2, 2021.
According to him, the development of the Logone Valley plays an important role in the resilience of vulnerable communities, livelihoods and ecosystems, including their ability to better cope and adapt to the impact of climate shocks. This financing from the Concessional Window of the World Bank (IDA) is granted to Cameroon as part of the Project to Enhance Investments in the Logone Valley (VIVA Logone).
The project aims to "support regional water security and the governance of water resources, mainly through the rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage infrastructure and support for water user associations; promote agricultural and agri-food production: and implement a transformation plan of semry (Yagoua Rice Expansion and Modernization Company) and strengthen public services."
According to the Bretton Woods institution, food production in the Far North is dominated by sorghum cultivation. But there are very significant amounts of other cereals, legumes and even tubers.Among the vegetable productions, the onion with nearly 40,000 tons holds the first place and the prospects of the market towards the South are considerable.
