Even if it were not an excellent feast, the South would be satisfied with “A show of Agricultural Revival"


There are many producers in the South who have warmly welcomed the organization in 2010 of an agro pastoral Show in Ebolowa as announced by the Head of State.
They are mostly unanimous that time does not permit them to organize a show that looks like those that were in the past as some of the actors have told us. And yet they have high expectations and propose ideas that seem interesting. A farmer and former city councillor of Ambam, Mr. Abessolo, summarizes the variously expressed comments from producers by saying "We want the Ebolowa show to be that of the revival of our agriculture livestock and fish breeding. This is because, according to him and other farmers met in Ngoulemekong, Avoundi through Meyo Center Nkoladom, Biba, Mbeleman and many other localities "Our region is too late in terms of agriculture and livestock.

If it fails to be a show where we demonstrate the great agricultural achievements, it can be an occasion for the laying the foundation for a true take off of agriculture in our region, we say welcome to the show.
The South is probably the region that is highly dependent as far as food is concerned. Go to the travel agencies in the morning and see the quantity of tomato, fruits ... which are transported to Ebolowa, Sangmelima, Djoum and other areas of the South. Some officials working in Ebolowa say they buy plantains and other proteins in Yaounde.

The region has the potential for food self-sufficiency. Even if roads are inadequate, it may be noted that from Yaounde to the borders with Gabon and Equatorial Guinea (around 300km) the road is tarred. The same goes for Yaounde-Sangmelima-Mvomeka road (250 km). What has been done to benefit from this opening up meanwhile along these roads one notices that there is very little farming. From Kye Ossi to Yaoundé you will not be able to fill a 2.5 tons van with plantains or cocoyam. And even when you find these food items the prices are out of reach.

In terms of fish production, the South is in pole position to supply the markets of Cameroon and the sub region. Instead, when you ask for fish, you are given rotten mackerel or freshwater premature fish. Meanwhile, the Fish Production Project of Avoundi (37 km from Ebolowa) is abandoned in the bush with barns housing 2 mills and a generator that have almost never worked, smoker and ponds that retain more than 4 ha of water. This is a project that has cost 500,000,000 CFA francs to the Spanish Cooperation and inaugurated in 2005 by MINEPIA. What about the fish ponds at Ndoungou close to Megong, and many others that you see along the roads?

Market gardening is taking off from Asandjik (20 km from Ambam) right up to the gates of Yaounde through Kye Ossi and Mbeleman. These are young men and women, without resources or training, struggling to produce tomato that is rather sold on border markets or to neighbours.
Isn’t the forth coming show offering here an opportunity to finally assess the relevance, performance and manage-ment of satellite MINADER and MINEPIA projects in the South: roots and tubers, plantain, lowland ... Pig Rearing Project... unconventional livestock rearing…? It would be surprising not to see them in the show and above all their contributions to this event. These projects must seize this great opportunity to show their results. For Ebolowa 2010, now is the time to evaluate all projects and programs in the rural South.



Takwa James, President of yam farmers Bukova
How are you preparing for the agric show in Ebolowa?
We are preparing for the National agric show seriously so that at anytime that it is announced we will have yams. We want to surprise Fako and the nation with fresh yams because before that time there will be no yams.
You have been to many agric shows, what are your expectations for Ebolowa 2010?
Buea and the South West in general will carry most of the prizes in Ebolowa.

What makes you so sure?
It’s because of the good products we have.
Are you preparing as a group or as an individual?
I am preparing as an individual and as a group because am coordinating the Bukova Yam Farmers.
What do you expect from the organizers in terms of receiving farmers?
We are pleading that government should provide feeding, transport and lodging to us in Ebolowa. It may be the first time for most of us to go to Ebolowa.
Many of you left the regional agric show in Limbe grumbling, what was the problem and how should these problems be avoided in Ebolowa?
What we noticed in Limbe was not in our taste; we from Buea were stranded without accommodation and feeding. We even managed the day the agric show ended to travel to Mile 4, Limbe at one in the morning to look for transport to come back to Buea. We were at risk because we did not have anywhere to sleep.

So what’s your appeal to the organizers of the agric show in 2010?
We farmers struggle every year to produce, we go to agric shows every time and they give us only trucks for the first prize, what can we do with trucks, yes the truck sometimes help to carry produce from the farm but not all farms have access roads for trucks to pass. We pray that they should give us valuable farm tools that ties with the needs of winning farmer.

As a farmer what do you want as a prize to improve your output and employ others?
We need support from the government to grow; change from low production and be able to employ others and the best way to distinguish such farmers is to see what they produce with little or no support. We need inputs and planting material in large scale and financial support to increase our farm sizes instead of trucks everyday. Planting material, herbicides and other inputs commensurate to farmers’ production will improve on our farming. The government is capable of providing a tractor for each region to plough the ground for us to plant.
Would you like government to employ independent judges for the show or…?
We are appealing to government to get objective judges and also to give certificates to us for participating. The last time we expected the certificates but up to now we have received nothing.
What did you win in Limbe?
We had a truck for the first price, wheel barrow for the second price for yams and insecticides for first price and second price for maize production by B.D.S.