20 years after his retirement, Samuel Ngoye Mukura has not forgotten anything concerning agric show from the first, initiated by Mr. Ismaila Fouapon in Kouoptamo in the Nun in 1960 up to the one in Maroua in January 1988.

In June 1960, the pioneers of Kouoptamo, given their abundant crops and in view of difficulties encountered in previous years to sell them turned to the Chief of Agricultural Post for Kouoptamo, Mr. Fouopon Ishmael. The latter consulted the head of the agricultural districts of Bamoum then in the person of Jacques Njoya, who was later known as Nji Nchouwat Yacoubou Arouna Njoya. Mr. Picco Alexander, Director of Sector Moderni-zation Altitude Crops Sector (CSAM) recommended that these two leaders should organize a Kouoptamo market that included both an exhibition of the best products carefully selected, well graded and well packaged in the stands constructed with local materials and secondly, the sale of well selected existing better quality products.
This was therefore, a small exhibition or mini agric show where all provincial administrative and political authorities in Dschang at that time the provincial headquarter, were invited as well as delegates and large scale producers. Representatives of the Secretary of State for Rural Development were also invited to this event. At the same time, the principle of giving prizes to the best products was adopted and CSAM funded the organisation of the event and provided the prizes for the best products.

Invitations were sent to all authorities and persons concerned and on July 3, 1960 the first show was held in Kouoptamo.
The success of this event was such that not only all the products displayed by the farmers were purchased, leaving the thirsty buyers from all corners of the Republic, especially from Douala and Yaounde, but more importantly, these farmers met two days after at the Chief of Agricultural Post’s residence, Kouoptamo, decided to organize such an event every year.
To keep their promise, the pioneer of organized other show during the 1961, 1962 and 1963 farming seasons.
In 1966, following the success of Kouoptamo local show Mr. Ngoye Mokuri proposed that the show be organised one after another in all the Divisions of the West Province.

This idea was received with satisfaction by all members of the committee and approved shortly after by the Regional Development Council of SMCA chaired by Jean Keutcha, then Secretary of State for Rural Development of the former East Cameroon.
After that, Divisional Agric Shows started holding in the West Province
In 1972, following the advent of the United Republic of Cameroon, many reforms occurred, which affected all sectors of the country and more dramatically, the government structures. The Secretariats of State for Rural Development was transformed to the Ministry of Agriculture by Decree No. 72/438 of 1st September 1972. While the decree, created delegations of Agriculture at the level of external services, it also removed SMCA and with it, all sources of funding for agricultural operations, including agricultural shows.

The new Minister of Agriculture of the United Republic, Jean Keutcha, was informed of this shortcoming. As palliative and harmonization through-out the country, he proposed to government the organization of agro pastoral shows nationally.
This idea was adopted by the government and its realization came with the organization of agro-pastoral show of Buea in March 1973. This was the launching of the agro-pastoral shows under the chairmanship of the Head of State.
The second national agro-pastoral show was held the following year in Ngaoundere on 10 and 11 December 1974. This farmers’ event doubled following the inauguration of Transcamerounaise.

During this grand event to which were invited a large number of neighbouring heads of states, it was decided that the celebration of the rural area would be held every three years.
A national commission chaired by the Minister of Agriculture and a permanent secretariat for agric shows were established for this purpose.
Initially scheduled for March 1977, the big Bafoussam agro-pastoral show was held in November 1977. This festival, after having been a model of success in the west, the people of this province who were the initiators of these shows, wanted to prove their maturity in this area and so put their hearts in the organization and gave an enthusiastic and warm welcome to all participants while showing their skills by winning the maximum prizes in the competition.
The year 1977 was that of the province of "Sunset" and in 1980 it was the turn of the province's of the "Rising Sun", that is to say, the East Province with Bertoua its headquarter.

However, for a good preparation of this show so as to raise its level to that of Bafoussam or even above it caused its postponement to February 1981. It was also a very successful show.
Under the new ethics set by the then Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Sadou Hayatou, the agro-pastoral show had to be a measure of our ongoing mobilization and an incentive to improve the agricultural production of our country and become a "National Day", where intense mixing of Cameroonians should contribute to strengthening national unity, integration of Cameroonians, and "an international event which aims to reveal the potential of Cameroonian agriculture and its involvement in world economy."

There is no doubt that within the normal evolution of things, this ethic could one day after going through the ten provinces of the Republic lead, and this is perhaps a wish that we are formulating, to the stabilization of these shows that would turn into real fairs like those in advanced countries such as the one in Barcelona, Spain just to cite this example!
Bafoussam, November 1984 By Samuel Ngoye Mukura, Agric Engineer of Agriculture, former Provincial Delegate of Agriculture in the West for 15 years
Translated from french by Joy Ful.


Farmers’ expectations
Farmers have welcome government’s initiative to reinstitute agro-pastoral shows beginning with Ebolowa in 2010. Some of them say these agric shows remind them of the good old days of agriculture in the country as well as offer a forum for exchange, learning and copying good agric examples.

Speaking to TFV, farmer after farmer expressed satisfaction with the reinstitution but expressed a lot of reserve on the treatment meted on farmers in previous local agro-pastoral shows. Some regretted that after stopping the national shows, the local shows had been reduced to a level that many farmers, unlike in the good days when farmers prepared special crops for the agric shows had lost interest.

Most of the farmers said if the agro-pastoral shows have to make a difference, beginning with the Ebolowa show in 2010 the prizes should not be those that encourage subsistent farming but huge provincial gifts like tractors, lorries…that can help farmers plough the fields all over the winning province to improve production rather than the usually petty tools given to individual farmers who even find it difficult transporting them to their enclave areas.
Some of the farmers said their recent experiences where farmers were treated anyhow without transport fares, lodging; feeding unlike government officials to the same occasions was unfair.

Some of them proposed that for Ebolowa 2010 to succeed the farmers’ platforms should be involved rather than putting farmers’ leaders out. Farmers made various pleas to the hosts to take care of them because they may be visiting Ebolowa for the first time.
“We are praying the regional delegate and the mayor of Ebolowa to take care of those people who will come from other regions because it will be worst there if such lapses come up given our distances from home,” Takwa James, a yam farmer in Buea who was busy preparing for the show told TFV.
On his part, Itoe Hansel, another farmer and delegate for Ekwa Farming CIG told TFV that “we expect that the allocation for lodging farmers should be handed directly to the farmers’ platform”. According to some farmers their platform will handle their affairs more than certain officials because they know their problems.
As the clock clicks, farmers who are earmarked are leaving no stone unturned to grab what some call will be lucrative prizes as the whole world have seen the importance of getting to the farms BDS