Cameroon: IFAD Joins World Bank in AgriConnect Farm Pact

Cameroon has launched a national pact meant to speed up the transformation of its farming, livestock and food-processing sectors. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has signed on as a founding partner, the UN agency said in a statement issued in Yaoundé on Thursday.

The National AgriConnect Pact was launched on Wednesday by the Government of Cameroon, the World Bank Group and development partners. Its stated aims are to strengthen food security, create jobs, particularly for young people and women, and attract both public and private investment.

Eight value chains targeted

The framework rests on three pillars: consolidating the foundations of the agrifood sector, accelerating policy and regulatory reform, and making finance easier to reach for producers and businesses. It will focus on rice, maize, cassava, oil palm, cocoa, soya, dairy farming and aquaculture.

The pact was drawn up jointly by the government and the World Bank Group, with input from the private sector and development partners. It builds on the National Development Strategy 2020-2030 (SND30), the Rural Sector Development Strategy/National Agricultural Investment Plan (SDSR/PNIA) and the Integrated Agro-pastoral and Fisheries Import-Substitution Plan (PIISAH).

Agrifood accounts for about 17% of Cameroon’s GDP and 42% of employment, or roughly 4.7 million workers, according to IFAD. Growth is held back by limited access to quality inputs, infrastructure, technology, markets and finance, while food imports take up an average of 3.5% of GDP each year.

2030 targets and cost

By 2030, the pact seeks to raise annual maize output to 6 million tonnes and palm oil production to 800,000 tonnes, reach 55% self-sufficiency in rice, cover 60% of national milk demand and lift fisheries output to 450,530 tonnes. It also aims to cut the food import bill by 28%, from about $1.6 billion to $1.15 billion.

The plan includes 24 interventions spanning seeds, mechanisation, irrigation, rural and storage infrastructure, processing, the cold chain, extension services, digital tools, land and financing. The interventions costed so far require about $1.87 billion over 2026-2030.

IFAD’s contribution

Eric Rwabidadi, IFAD Country Director, spoke at the ceremony on behalf of the UN Resident Coordinator in Cameroon.

“IFAD is proud to be a founding partner of the AgriConnect initiative. We remain fully committed alongside the Government of Cameroon and our partners to put our experience and investments at the service of this shared ambition, in particular by supporting young people’s agropastoral entrepreneurship, the development of inclusive value chains, access to rural finance and strengthening resilience to climate change.”

IFAD said it would draw on its current portfolio: PADFA II for rice and onion; ACREGIR, focused on eco-entrepreneurship and climate resilience; PAIDATA, covering sustainable intensification and agroecological transition in cocoa and coffee; and PEA-Jeunes II, devoted to agropastoral entrepreneurship among young people and women.