Gerald Akenji, the former regional coordinator of ICDGAPAAC

How are you starting off after these crises ?
We foresaw these problems coming and precautions were taken, we had to contact other partners who have pumped in money which we are going to start with.
How much money has been taken away from the farmers by ICDGAPAAC ?
They took about 18million CFA from farmers and nothing in return.

What were you expecting to give out such huge sum of money for?
This 18 million was ‘apport personnelle’ and this was supposed to be multiplied by a certain number which we were not told in order to finance our farmers. So they were supposed to pump in their own funds in return to the adherent fees which never came in.
What happened, were they fey men ?
We finally realized that they were con men. We thank God that we have struggled and balanced some from our own profit. So, with part of the farmers’ contributions and our profits we are going to sue the ICDGAPAAC.

Who are you suing because they have dissolved ?
The president is detained in Kondengui central prison and we are going to table our own case file.
Is it true that you granted loans alone, without committee members since some of them you named in the meeting said they were not members?
We have people who are power mongers, people who will want to be seen every where when their input is almost zero. I can’t grant a lone as an organization single handedly. There is a procedure; I give an approval based on the report presented by the project department. The loan policy was strictly followed. There is no loan granted to a farmer without collateral.

Are you sure these frustrated farmers will cooperate with the management committee ?
My intention is not to leave the farmers stranded. I am ready to give them my technical and financial assistance. The legal procedure is in place and we are expecting that justice prevail.
How much did farmers contribute and how much was given to farmers as loans ?
Farmers contributed 23 million francs, this was contributed by 662 members. We have 480 debtors according to the project finance department and these 480 farmers owe 53 million francs.

Don’t you think those with the loans will be unwilling to repay ?
We have that mentally when it is an NGO, its government money, we just grab and disappear, that is what the farmers believe but we are bent that they repay.
What is the committee expected to achieve?
This is a financial house we are creating with a share capital of 89 million francs pumped in by our partner. With these 89 million francs I wish to create a management committee for now.

How soon will you start granting loans to farmers ?
I would have loved that we start studying projects now in order to boost the morale.
Are you sure to succeed with the failure of ICDGAPAAC and loan delinquency ?
May God be our helper!
This office used to boom, a lot of people in and out, how do you feel when the place is empty like this?
It’s a sad situation but we learn from our mistakes by B.D.S

“EM works when you apply it effectively,”

Valentine Anoncho, Promoter, Organic Farming, Bamenda
“EM works when you apply it effectively,”
Does EM really work in cocoa ?
EM works when you apply it effectively.
Some farmers complained that they used it and their cocoa got bad. So what went wrong?
The problem came from the farmers themselves and not from the EM.

How do you explain that ?
If they followed our prescriptions, they were not supposed to have any difficulties.
What agreement did you have with your dealers who were working with cocoa farmers ?
Agreement! They were to train farmers and supply the product to them.

What do they still owe you ?
Above three million Cfa francs
What is your next step that they are no more in the field ?
Well I am getting news from farmers and recently I saw one who complained but testified to me that the products were not bad. Just that my so called dealers had another agenda behind the EM that they were promoting.

What is your relationship with your dealers now ?
I do not know where they are and even with their phone contacts, I can’t get to them and for about eight months now, I have lost contact with them.
What are you doing with your program of promoting organic farming in Cameroon ?
I have decided to put in action what I tell farmers. That is putting in place a research institute in which I will be applying all what I tell the farmers so that what ever difficulties they have they will come and see what I am doing in practice

Are you disappointed when you hear cocoa farmers saying that the product did not work ?
I really feel disappointed because if I am the one applying it, it will work.
What do you think the farmers did which they would not have done ?
I do not know exactly what went on in the field but if you apply EM and maybe the next thing you apply is chemical pesticides or herbicides, you will not have the effects of EM. If you want to engage with EM, engage with EM alone until you receive satisfaction and where you have difficulties, seek for advice from us.

How would you encourage farmers who did not have intended results to continue to work with EM ?
To succeed with EM depends on many factors. At times the first year, you do not get the desired results but you have to continue, otherwise you will not see the real goodness of EM but if you go on for three years that is when you will see the real goodness. There are some people who testify that from the first year they have good results but others, maybe because of the nature of their soil or the pests that they already have will not have that good result with EM for that first year but I feel very sad when people say they used EM and it did not work because they do not know its potential. When you use EM, you need to continue to use it to enrich the soil and the micro flora of the environment in which you are applying EM. I am sure that environment where they applied the EM was not rich enough with the product by B.D.S.


“We are under fire from those they collected their money,”

Ekoi Peter, Member ICDGAPAC
How much did you contribute ?
I contributed 140000 CFA francs, my wife registered with 10000 CFA francs and I brought about five members that paid 10000 CFA francs each as registration. I advised other people because I thought it was a genuine organization. I directed them to my village where they registered almost everybody collecting 10000 CFA francs from each individual.
So how much money have you lost in this deal ?
It’s a huge some of money; unless I make an analysis I can’t know off heart considering the number of people who registered applied for loans and paid for shares.

What do you think happened to the money ?
After collecting for membership, they told us to get a loan, you needed to fill in a form which costs 5000 CFA francs then you needed to pay a deposit of 150000 CFA francs depending on the loan you wanted and we did all this.
Why would you pay such amounts for money you ought to pay an interest on ?
They told us you would have a long term loan of millions that you will pay in bids with little interest but nobody ever got the loan.

Some of you owe the organization. How did they get the money if you say so ?
They went to some areas and claimed to have given people some cocoa chemicals, which they converted into cash, that’s what they are claiming that people owe them. Even the chemicals were not satisfactory because they could not even kill an ant. We are already under fire from those we convinced and they collected their money.

How do you intend to collect your money ?
We are grouping to seek legal action. The office is empty, no workers again, so the director will be held responsible.
Do you think the Farmers’ Trust is the best way to get back your money?
No, the Farmers’ trust bank is just like changing the club and refusing to change the jersey. What we want is to retrieve our money which we paid in ICDGAPAAC.
Have you started the legal action ?
With time, we will start legal action by B.D.S