History

History of extension and the enabling environment

Starting 1916, Cameroon was simultaneously ruled for over four decades by the two colonial powers, the French and the British. In terms of agriculture, both powers initially concentrated on developing and expanding the export crops through vast plantations using the indigenous labor. Although the French emphasis was later shifted to peasant production areas yet the goal still remained the same, i.e. the expansion of exports. With this goal in view, several agricultural institutions were created for extension and marketing purposes. The French established the Secteurs de Modernisation that provided crop-focused extension advice, and other services including seed production, pest control, and agro processing. Also, research institutes were established to cover cotton, cocoa, coffee and palm oil. The British, however, continued the private large-scale plantations for which research and extension services were provided by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperatives and Community Development. As the extension staff was mainly used for promotion of export crops during the colonial period, it had little knowledge of food crops and smallholder agriculture till Cameroon’s independence in 1960.

As is evident from the First Five-Year Development Plan (1961-1965), even after the independence, the government continued the agricultural policy of the colonial powers, maintaining the East and West Cameroon as two states. During this era, the extension services followed the “diffusion/modernization model,” which concentrated on the transformation of peasants with limited government intervention. In 1972, the two parts of Cameroon were unified and a new Ministry of Agriculture was created.

During the 1970s, the government increased its intervention in agriculture in a big manner by establishing as many as 24 parastatal development agencies, and donors kept supporting this trend. The MIDENO Project (Mission de la Province du Nord-Ouest) implemented in the North-West of Cameroon, strengthened the extension services especially those for female producers. Individual and group contacts, accompanied by the provision of farm inputs to the farmers were the main extension methods used.

Cameroon’s oil boom of 1977 prompted the government to guarantee higher prices of cocoa, coffee and cotton for the farmers. The development of public agricultural research and extension institutions was almost ignored. With the worldwide drastic fall of prices of the export crops in 1986, Cameroon’s farmers went through a huge crisis of low income and food shortages, and the government had to resort to the donor-assisted structural adjustment programs. Starting 1990, major reforms undertaken included the elimination of farm subsidies, reduction in government’s interventions, introduction of privatization, emphasis on growing food crops and enhancing livestock production, marketing liberalization and institutional overhaul especially for agricultural research.  

In 1988, the World Bank-financed National Agricultural Extension & Education Program (NAEEP) was started under which the Training and Visit (T&V) system of extension was implemented, concentrating on three main components, i.e. extension, training, and information. In spite of huge investments in terms of time, money and energy, the T&V system could not alleviate the major constraints hampering the effectiveness of extension services nor could it sustain the gains in production and farm incomes.

The government started the National Program for Agricultural Extension and Training (PNVFA) in 1988 as a pilot program. In 1998, the second phase of the program was signed into law guaranteeing sustained funding, and the title of the program was changed to National Program for Agricultural Extension and Research (PNVRA-Programme Nationale de Vulgarisation et de Recherche Agricole). 

The World Bank-financed National Agricultural Extension and Research Program Support Project (NPARV–1998 to 2004) promoted the cultivation of food crops like maize, beans, potatoes, soybeans, and tubers as well as the enhancement of livestock production. The production of non-traditional agricultural exports such as green beans, flowers, tropical fruit and cassava chips was also encouraged. This approach necessitated the strengthening of the extension services. However, limited success was achieved in this regard due to unavailability of improved technologies.  Another project in support of the PNVRA was financed by the African Development Fund, and implemented from 2000 to 2007. This project mainly concentrated on capacity building of the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD).

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has been a very active donor for Cameroon. It is presently supporting several agricultural and rural development projects in Cameroon, which have agricultural extension component, such as Commodity Value Chain Development Support Project (PADFA-2010-2018), Rural Microfinance Development Support Project (PADMIR-2010-2016), Roots and Tubers Market-Driven Development Program (PNDRT-2004-2012). Completed IFAD projects in Cameroon include North-West Rural Development Project (1981-1991), Second Western Province Rural Development Project (1985-1991), Livestock Sector Development Project (1989-1995), National Agricultural Research and Extension Programs Support Project (PNVRA-1999-2003), National Microfinance Program Support Project (PPMF-2001-2007), Growing out of Poverty: Tree Cultivation for Home Use and Markets (2004-2007) and Community Development Support Project (2003-2010).

The Country Strategy Paper for Cameroon (2008-2013) contains a strategic framework for the cooperation of the European Commission with Cameroon through the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) while additional aid was to be granted for rural development, decentralization and non-state actors. There are several bi-lateral donor countries including France serving on the Development Assistance Committee that have been providing financial and technical assisting to Cameroon.  Presently, the PNVRA, located within the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, is the main public extension agency for extension services in Cameroon. Initiatives to privatize the extension services in general have not met much success. Some NGOs are actively involved in extension work.

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Extension Providers

Public Institutions

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Ministere de l’Agriculture et du Developpement Rural)

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has a number of responsibilities to develop the agriculture sector. Some of its functions related to agricultural extension are: disseminating information and advice to farmers; checking agricultural and cooperative education; supervising private agricultural education in conjunction with the Ministry of Vocational Training; and managing farmers and agricultural extension.

• The National Program for Agricultural Extension and Research (PNVRA)

The National Program for Agricultural Extension and Research (PNVRA), located within the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, is the main public agency for providing extension services to the farmers in all 10 regions of the country. In 2009, PNVRA reportedly had 1,651 extension staff. Key components of PNVRA’s program are:

1. Agricultural extension.
2. Training and development of human resources.
3. Support to producer organizations and associations.
4. Partnership with the private sector.
5. Agricultural research.
6. Village community participatory pilot development operations.
7. Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and impact assessment of the extension program.

All relevant ministries and certain international NGOs are involved in PNVRA, which receives funding not only from the government, but also from external research-based sources such as CGIAR (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research), CIP (International Potato Center), and CIRAD (International Cooperation Center of Agricultural Research for Development).

Chamber of Agriculture, Fishery, Livestock and Forest (CAPEF)
The Chamber of Agriculture, Fishery, Livestock and Forest (CAPEF) has replaced the 20 years old but largely ineffective Chamber of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Forests of Cameroon in 2009. The 200-member Farmers’ Parliament was elected in July 2010, and the members were divided as follows: agriculture (88 members), fisheries (24 members), livestock (44 members), and forestry and wildlife (44 members). CAPEF is located within the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The Chamber’s key role is to defend the interests of producers in the sectors of agriculture, fishery, livestock and forests, develop partnerships with investors and facilitate the training of farmers.

Institute of Research for Agricultural Development (IRAD) 
The Institute of Research for Agricultural Development does not have any explicit organizational unit for extension purposes nor does it have extension listed as one of its functions. However, IRAD initiated in 1998 an extension-related process called Management Advice for Family Farms (MAFF) in the cotton growing area of North Cameroon that supposedly integrates diagnosis, training, extension and advice. The rationale for the initiative is that extension organizations focus entirely on introducing production enhancing technologies among farmers while little attention is paid to comprehensive management of family farms. MAFF is a three-year long training process, which introduces groups of farmers of different profiles to basic management (such as food stock, income management, forecast preparation for the farming season, techno-economic analysis, etc.) during the first two years through various training modules, and concentrates on individual farmers during the third year. No update, progress or evaluation report of the process could be found on the Internet.

Societe de Developpement du Coton du Cameroun (SODECOTON)
SODECOTON is a semi-autonomous public extension organization, based in Garoua, operating in North Cameroon. Its mandate is to promote cotton cultivation among the peasants in the North and the Far-North Regions. In 2009, SODECOTON had a total of 306 extension staff. Since 1979, SODECOTON has been engaged in setting up Village Producers’ Associations (AVPs), which were designed to collect the cotton produced in villages and to organize the primary purchase of the cotton by the SODECOTON buying teams. However, apparently due to some conflict, AVPs have now taken this task in their own hands. There were more than 2,000 AVPs covering 2,900 buying points (cotton villages) in 2009. 

Non-Public Institutions

Private sector

Apart from agricultural input supply companies that provide some technical advice on improved production of commercial crops with the objective of promoting the sale of their products and/or buying quality produce from contracted farmers, there is no established private company that provides extension and advisory services to the farmers on regular basis.  It is particularly true in the areas where special schemes or projects for commercial crops are being implemented. For example, there is evidence of substantial enhancement in the sales of Pelenguet’s hybrid maize seed, and in Pamol’s oil palm seedlings when these two companies worked under the umbrella of Projet National de Vulgarisation Agricole (National Agricultural Extension Project). 

Names of some of the private sector companies involved in the supply of agricultural inputs, and in the trading, export, import of agricultural commodities in Cameroon, are as follows. Some of them are based overseas but have branch offices or agents in Cameroon:

• Cameroon Agric Complex Inc. (located in Littoral; manufactures and supplies cooking oils, seeds, chemicals and animal feed).
• Glochem Industries Ltd. (located in Littoral; deals in pesticides, fungicides, insecticides and algaecides).
• Cameroon Chemical Fertilizer Production Company Ltd. (located in Muyuka, South West Region; produces chemical fertilizers, like urea and DAP).
• Nlaten Farms, Ltd. (established in 2008; trades in agriculture, food and beverages and chemicals).
• Agriculture and Pet Products (established in 2010; exports fresh eggs and egg products).
• Mohamedouadventures, Ltd. (established in 2001; exports agricultural inputs and outputs).
• Lipenja Development Corporation (established in 2010; deals in palm oil, sunflower oil, and olive oil).
• Development Action Group (GRADEV - Groupe d’Action pour le Développement). It is a private company involved in some extension work, and had about 46 extension staff in 2009.

Some farmers’ associations and cooperatives in Cameroon also function as commercial companies and are involved in local and overseas business activities (see the section on farmers-based associations, cooperatives and societies).

Non-governmental organizations

Although there is no NGO in Cameroon that provides extension advice to the farmers on regular basis, a number of NGOs are active in extension or extension type activities. There are reportedly about 73 NGOs at the national level, and about 20 of them focus on sustainable agriculture following participatory approaches for rural development. Names of a few NGOs and their activities are given below:

• Key Farmers Cameroon is a non-profit, self-help umbrella organization of 50 autonomous groups and about 1,200 individual members. Its mission is to promote sustainable agriculture and rural development. Main activities include crop and animal husbandry, gender, HIV/AIDS education, agro-forestry and agro-tourism. This NGO has been very active in agricultural extension, research and training of farmers. Its extension activities cover individual farm visits, group demonstration farms, farmers’ exchange visits, exhibitions, training, workshops, farm trials, and collaboration with government services and institutions.
• Center for Environment and Rural Transformation (CERUT): This NGO was founded in 1990 and is located in Limbe. Its goal is to empower local people through training and extension work for the elimination of socially unjust practices that result in poverty and land degradation.
• Integrated Rural Community Center for Agriculture (IRCCA): It is an autonomous self-help group, located in Meluf-Kumbo. IRCCA’s mission is to promote the development and adoption of sustainable appropriate technologies, practices and diversification in rural agriculture.
• Green Cameroon: Green Cameroon is a small NGO located in Buea Town, South West Region. It was founded in 2003 by a group of young Cameroonians concerned about environmental degradation and lack of interest and awareness of the issues among local populations. This NGO’s mission is to ensure sustainable development and a better planet for future children by addressing major environmental and sustainable development issues identified by local communities.
• Strategic Humanitarian Services (SHUMAS): This NGO, based in Bamenda, North West Region, promotes integrated sustainable rural development with the aim of improving living standards of poor, disadvantaged people, in particular women and children. SHUMAS works in partnership with other NGOs and is active in the areas of primary schooling, social welfare, agriculture, health care, women’s issues, forestry and organic farming.
• Cameroon Gender and Environment Watch (CAMGEW): This NGO was established in 2007. Its activities focus on integrating gender in solving environmental problems in Cameroon. The NGO works in collaboration with stakeholders, and some of its activities are environmental education, tree planting, forest restoration, bee farming, agro-forestry, biogas and agriculture, farm-handiwork materials, women empowerment, and vocational training.
• Group of NGOs for Food Security and Rural Development (COSADER - Collectifs des ONG pour la Securite Alimentaire et le Development Rural): This NGO is based in Yaoundé, and had a total of 22 extension staff in 2009.

Farmers-based associations, cooperatives and societies

There are considerable number of farmers’ associations and cooperatives in Cameroon. Many of them act as commercial companies, but at the same time are involved, directly or indirectly, in providing extension and marketing advice to their members. Descriptions of some of the associations and cooperatives are given as follows:

• Associations de Producteurs et de Stockeurs de Cereales (APROSTOCs): These associations, formed under the Développement Paysannal et Gestion des Terroirs (DPGT Project) in Northern Cameroon, are gradually acquiring a network of farmer advisers who support the improvement of Muskwari sorghum cultivation. These informal networks disseminate information based on farmers’ knowledge and experience. Farmer advisers are members of the same community which they serve. They call upon recognized and influential farmers to assist in conducting training and technical trials. The service is partially financed by the beneficiary farmers.
• South West Farmers Association, Ltd.: This association was registered as a company in 1990. It has about 700 employees and deals in lime, plum, okra, watermelon, cabbage, banana, plantain, coco and yams. It is involved in export business.
• North West Farmers’ Organization (NOWEFOR): This association was established in 1995, and has been striving to support the production of garden crops and livestock for small scale farmers in the North West Region of Cameroon. It is the largest farmers’ organization in the region, and its activities include capacity building and facilitating access to inputs and markets. The association, which also helps farmers through its credit houses, received substantial assistance under the European Union funded project on garden crops and livestock for small farmers that was implemented from 2008 to 2010.
• Cameroon Federal Farmers Association (CAMFFA): CAMFFA is a union of about 5,000 farmers, and its agricultural and farming operations date back to 1954. This association has been working on green technology solutions to integrate sustainability into farming.
• Northwest Cooperative Association Limited (NWCA): The Northwestern Cooperative Association, established in 1950,  is a cooperative society, located in Bamenda, North West Region of Cameroon, representing over 3,500 individual smallholder coffee farmers. Under NWCA organizational and operational mechanism, there are about 47 Cooperative Primary Marketing Societies (CPMS) that purchase coffee beans from individual farmers. Then, there are about seven (7) Secondary Cooperative Unions (SCU) that are responsible for processing the coffee beans, collected earlier, and delivering the coffee to the umbrella body NWCA. The latter finds markets for the product and makes logistic arrangements for transportation.
• WUM Honey Farmers Association: This association, located in the North West Region, functions like a commercial company, and exports natural honey, sunflower honey, acacia honey, coffee honey, and wax to Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria. The association is now trying to expand its operations to other regions of the world. 
• Chede Cooperative Union (Chede Cameroon): Chede Cooperative Union is the pivot of the Chede international development network. The Union organizes village-based farmers into structured organizations such as cooperatives and common initiative groups. It has a 10-year development program, and undertakes a number of activities for the benefit of member farmers. The Chede Cooperative Union has about 13 member organizations that include Chede projects, location-specific farmers’ cooperative societies, development associations, commodity-specific producers’ groups, and some NGOs.
• Cameroon Cooperative Credit Union League (CamCCUL): CamCCUL was established in 1963. It is one of the oldest cooperative networks in Africa and the largest financial institution of its type in Cameroon.
• North West Pig Farmers’ Cooperative (Nowepifac): This cooperative has about 200 pig farmer members, headed by a veterinarian manager. The cooperative’s motto is, “Fighting the Feed, Marketing and Disease Crisis of Pig Farming”. The logic behind the creation of the cooperative is lowering the costs through unification of farmers.
• FEEDAR & HR Association: This association comprises member farmers from Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria, who grow cocoa, coffee, and palm oil trees.
• Other farmers’ associations: Other farmers-based organizations in Cameroon are Cocoa Farmers’ Organizations (such as ONPCCC Farmers’ Association with about 53,000 member farmers), Cameroon Association of Rural and Community Radio (CARCOR), Salma Farmers’ Association (SALMA; mostly in horticulture), Farmers’ Association of Cameroon (CFPC), and Cameroon National Confederation of Cotton Producers (CNPC-Cameroon-Confederation Nationale des Producteur de Coton du Cameroun; based in Garoua; had 143 extension staff in 2009).

List of Extension Providers

 The following list shows an excerpt from the GFRAS Directory of Extension Providers for Cameroon. Some of these entries may be specially marked for having more detailed information in the database of the Worldwide Extension Study WWES.

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Training

Training options for extension professionals

Pre-service education in agricultural sciences including extension may be pursued at the following academic institutions in Cameroon:

• University of Dschang (Universite de Dschang): This public university is located in Dschang, and has four faculties and high schools. One of the faculties is the Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences, where the Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology is located.
• Bamenda University of Science & Technology (BUST): This institution of higher learning, founded in 1995, is located in Bamenda, North West Region. The university offers degree programs in a number of majors including rural sociology and extension education, and community development and adult education.

In-service training for extension staff may be arranged at any of the following places:

• University of Dschang.
• Bamenda University of Science & Technology.
• University of Ngaoundere: offers training in milk, butter, cheese and yogurt.
• Institute of Research for Agricultural Development (IRAD.)
• Regional College of Agriculture (RCA) and Technical School of Agriculture (TSA), located at Bambili, North West Region: Both institutions have been training senior agricultural technicians, technicians and assistant technicians of agriculture. Recently, a new training program has been initiated for agro-pastoral entrepreneurs, who manage farms of significant economic size.
• Regional Colleges of Agriculture, located at Ebolowa, South Region; at Maroua, Far North Region; and at Bertoua, East Region. These institutions offer general agricultural training for secondary school leavers.
• Schools of Veterinary Science: There are two Schools of Veterinary Science operated by the Ministry of Wildlife and Forestry; one is located in Maroua, Far North Region, and the other is located in Mbalmayo, Centre Region.  

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ICT

Info-mediaries and information and communication technology (ict) for agriculture and extension

The Ministry of Telecommunications (MINPOSTEL - Ministere des Postes et Telecoms) is responsible for developing and regulating ICT matters in Cameroon. According to the World Bank, in 2011, the number of mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) in Cameroon was 52.35. During the same year, the number of Internet users (per 100 people) in the country was just 5.

In recent years, the government has been taking important steps to connect its citizens to the Internet. A National Strategy for ICT Development has been prepared, and an action plan for an information and knowledge-based society has been outlined by the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation. The number of ICT centers is growing, and ICT has been formally incorporated in primary and high schools by the Ministry of Secondary Education. Some of the recent ICT initiatives and projects in Cameroon are mentioned below:

• National Electrification Project (in support of the expansion of ICT use).
• Building Human Capacities in ICT.
• ICT Infrastructure Development.
• Development of Social Sectors through the use of ICT.
• Modernizing the Public Service.
• Development of an ICT Industrial Sector.
• Opening of ICT University (ICT-U) Campus in Cameroon.
• Distance Education courses being offered by the University of Dschang since 1991.

So far, there is no evidence of ICT being used in support of agricultural extension programs or in any other aspect of agricultural development in a major way. The only example that comes closest to agriculture is a project in participatory mapping, which is being implemented in partnership with indigenous forest communities across the southern forest zone of Cameroon. Under the project, local forest-dependent communities have been trained in using GPS-enabled handheld computers with the specially developed icon-driven software CI Earth, which does not require literacy skills, to create forest inventory maps.

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Resources

Resources and References

African Development Bank and African Development Fund. 2009. Country Strategy Paper 2010-2014: Cameroon. Regional Department, Center (ORCE).

African Development Fund. 2009. Republic of Cameroon; Project to Support the National Agricultural Research and Extension Program: Project Completion Report. Agriculture and Agro-Industry Department.

Amungwa, F.A. 2009. Appraisal of privatization of agricultural extension services in Cameroon. Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Vol. 1 (3), Pp. 085-092.

Bamou, E. and W.A. Masters.2007. Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Cameroon. Agricultural Distortions Working Paper 42, December 2007; prepared by the World Bank’s Development Research Group.

Dewbre, J. and A. Borot de Battisti.2008. Agricultural Progress in Cameroon, Ghana and Mali: Why It Happened and How to Sustain It. France: OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Working Papers, No. 9, OECD Publishing. Doi: 10.1787/241275631215.

Idowu, O.O. 2005. Farmers’ perception of agricultural extension agents’ characteristics as factors for enhancing adult learning in Mezam division of Northwest Province of Cameroon. Australian Journal of Adult Learning, Volume 45, Number 2, July 2005, Pp. 223-237.

Mathieu, B., D. Gautier, and E. Fotsing (no date; probably 2002). The recent extension of Muskwari sorghums in Northern Cameroon.

Nana, P. D. and M. Havard (no date; probably 2002). Management advice for family farms: An extension process to help farmers of North Cameroon meet up challenges of professionalization.

Nji, A. (October 2007). Prospects of Distance Education for Agricultural Training, Education and Agri-business in Cameroon. A Country Note prepared for the GO-FAU Stakeholder Consultation Meeting, held in Washington, DC. November 1-3, 2007.

Rivera, W.M., M.K. Qamar, and H.K. Mwandemere.2005. Enhancing Coordination among AKIS/RD Actors: An Analytical and Comparative Review of Country Studies on Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems for Rural Development (AKIS/RD). Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Tchawa, P., F. Nkapemin, and JM, Diop. 2002. Participatory Technology Development in Cameroon: The Route and Milestone in the Process of its Institutionalization (Ed. Jean-Marie Diop); Participatory Technology Development Working Paper 5. ETC Ecoculture.

Tchouamo, I. and R.E. Steele.1997. Educational impacts of the Training and Visit system on small farmers in the West Province of Cameroon. Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education, Spring 1997, Pp. 31-37.

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