(Business in Cameroon) - Seventy five young farmers from the coastal region have joined the programme New Generation set by Cameroon’s cocoa and coffee council in order to introduce young people to the cocoa-producing industry. The program was set in 2012 after a study revealed that the average cocoa producer was 60 years in some production basins in the country. The middle-aged have been the most active till now.

According to the programme's rules, those 75 farmers who received their installation kits on March 2, 2018, should produce at least 225 hectares of cocoa trees (3 hectares per farmer) in three years.

During these three years, the council will provide them everything they need to launch cocoa culture, except lands and workers.

Officially, 468 young people should be selected to join the programme this year ; 168 for cocoa culture and 300 to grow Arabica and Robusta.

For the record, in the framework of the programme New Generation, 1,117 young people have been supported and they have already grown 2,000 hectares of cocoa trees.  

BRM