(Business in Cameroon) - While launching the 2017-2018 cocoa season on 25 August in Ntui, in the Central region of Cameroon, the Minister of Commerce, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, announced the establishment of a quality premium, to encourage cocoa farmers to better produce.

Paid at the end of the season to those who would have stood out during the season thanks to the quality of their cocoa production, this premium will be taken from the share of the licence fee meant for the Fonds de développement des filières cacao-café (Fodecc – Development Fund fof the Cocoa-Coffee Sector). The amount and payment terms for this premium will be specified by the Ministry of Commerce, we learned.

This government incentive comes in addition to the initiatives already undertaken by some exporters, who for years, have taken up the battle for the improvement of the quality of the Cameroonian cocoa, by encouraging the production of certified cocoa.

This is the case of Telcar Cocoa, local trading arm of Cargill, who in the past four cocoa seasons in Cameroon, distributed approximately FCfa 1.5 billion in premiums to producers of certified cocoa. As a reminder, during the 2015-2016 season, approximately 96% of beans exported by Cameroon were of grade II. According to the Minister of Commerce, due to the quality, which has not much improved, despite the efforts exerted for tears by the professional association and the public authorities, Cameroonian cocoa is currently discounted by FCfa 200 per kilogram on the international market.

BRM