(Business in Cameroon) - Despite the joint efforts of Cameroon’s coffee-cocoa board and that of government to boost the national coffee production, the sector continues to decline.

According to figures by the coffee-cocoa board ONCC (figures which will be released during the official launch of the 2017-2018 coffee campaign on April 4, 2018) the coffee produced during the 2016-2017 campaign was 20,270 tons, a decrease by about 20% compared to the volume produced during the previous campaign.

This volume is above all the second-worst performance of Cameroonian producers during the last five campaigns after the 16,142 tons produced during the 2012-2013 campaign qualified as the worst campaign in the last 50 years by local actors.

Since the 2013-2014 (32,800 tons) campaign which restored the hopes of producers, the national production has slumped by more than 12,500 tons. This further keeps the country away from reaching the goals contained in the recovery plan according to which the national production should rise to 150,000 tons by 2020.   

According to local experts, this decrease could be attributed to the unavailability of seeds, the use of old varieties with meager output, the high cost of inputs, the old age of plantations and of the producers. There is also the lack of interest in coffee planting since its price is less profitable, compared to crops like cocoa. Indeed, the price of coffee is not in line with the volume of work required by coffee production.  

Brice R. Mbodiam