Cameroon invests US$23.9M to enhance rice production, reduce imports

 

CAMEROON –  Cameroon, through the Steering Committee for the Rice Value Chain Development Project has approved US$23.9M to increase rice production in the country.

According to the committee, this project aims to boost local rice production over the next five years, thus reducing the country’s reliance on imported rice and conserving its foreign currency reserves.

The decision to approve the project was made during a meeting on January 17, 2025, in Bamenda, the capital of the Northwest.

The whole project costs over US$213, funded by various donors led by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).

According to the National Institute of Statistics (INS), rice imports in Cameroon reached US$321.5M in 2023, a 24% drop from US$423.5M in 2022. This stems from 652,565 tons of rice that the country imported during the first ten months of 2022, valued at US$260.2M.

These rice imports accounted for 4.6% of the country’s total import value. By comparison, in 2021, rice import spending reached US$332.9M, representing 5.4% of the country’s total imports.

“India remains the top supplier with 55.2% of the market share, followed by Thailand, which saw a 2% increase in market share from the previous year. Together, these two countries provided 90.1% of the rice imported into Cameroon in 2023,” the INS report says.

According to a scholarly article published by University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon, ‘Rice is a staple food for the Cameroonian population and is the most consumed cereal after maize.

Despite its importance, the country in a net importer for the commodity, with 75% of rice demand met through imports.

According to analysts, Cameroon aims to boost its rice production from 140,710 tons to 460,000 tons by 2027.

This plan is part of the country’s Medium-Term Economic and Budgetary Framework 2025-2027, prepared by the Ministry of Finance. 

According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, rice demand in Cameroon was estimated at 576,949 tons as of 2020.

With a projected production of 460,000 tons by 2027, there will still be a gap of at least 110,000 tons, which will need to be filled by imports, continuing to burden the country’s trade balance.

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