(Business in Cameroon) - Cameroonian cocoa producers have the period from October 16 to November 16 this year to register with the relevant departmental delegations of the trade ministry in order to qualify for the cocoa quality premium for the 2017-2018 season.

According to a statement from the trade ministry, applicants for this premium valued at CFA1 billion will have to, in addition to elements allowing them to be identified as producers, present a “document attesting to the marketing of a grade 1 or good fermented cocoa”, sources said.

As a reminder, the cocoa quality premium was introduced in Cameroon during the past season to encourage local producers to produce quality beans. Indeed, for more than ten years, the country has exported over 90% of grade 2 beans. But, thanks to this new strategy “ the volumes exported in grade I increased from 1,099 to 8,933 tons between the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 marketing years, reflecting an increase by 713%,” revealed Trade Minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana on August 8 in Yaoundé, at the opening of the 6th edition of the Cameroon International Cocoa Festival (Festicacao).

BRM