(Business in Cameroon) - On the fringes of the official launch of the Project to Support the Improvement of Livestock Farming (PAPE) in the town of Maroua (Far North), on 10 March, professionals and other experts in the sector revealed, during a workshop, that one of the sectors most affected by the war against Boko Haram is the breeding activity, through cattle thefts.

This practice, which has always existed in this main beef production area in Cameroon, due to gangster activities, we learned, has worsened with the start of the war against Boko Haram, particularly through sacking operations on the general population’s properties organised by members of this Nigerian Islamist sect.

Based on the statistics from the Ministry of Livestock, these thefts resulted in losses of roughly FCfa 8 billion over the past three years. This sum, we learned, covers the global value of the cattle stolen by thieves, as well as the taxes generally collected by boroughs during cattle markets, commercial spaces which have practically all been shut down due to insecurity.

BRM