José Graziano da Silva left Yaounde on Saturday after revealling to the press the high points of his stay in Cameroon.

The Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, José Graziano da Silva, has left Cameroon after three days of a working visit on the invititation of President Paul Biya during which he made some commitments. At a press conference in Yaounde on Saturday September 5, 2015, José da Silva said it was impressive seeing the work the FAO and government were doing as well as the partnership signed on the host country agreement that is expected to transform the FAO Cameroon Country Office into regional  liaison office.

The achievements of the visit were outlined in the presence of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Essimi Menye, the Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industry, Dr Taîga and the FAO Resident Representative in Cameroon, Dr Mai Moussa Abari.

What Support to Cameroonian Farmers?

The FAO office in Cameroon can pride itself with a portfolio of 18 million dollars (about FCFA) 16 of which is already funded. The FAO country framework covers different areas of expertise. Added to the portfolio is the 20 million dollars (about FCFA 11.7 billion) that was agreed on the partnership to increase FAO work on scaling up food security in Cameroon in the next five years. “We have been able to mobilse funds from south-south cooperation (China, Brazil and Korea) but also donor funds from the European Union and the United States of America and others,” the visiting FAO Director said, adding that this was an opportunity to forge ahead.

Not all villages can have oil refineries but almost all villages can have livestock, agriculture fields and fisheries that people can work and live on. Helping them improve productivity of their natural resources is the leeway to food self suffiency, holds the FAO boss. The FAO does not fund projects but assists countries with its technical expertise. The organisation is therefore ready to improve the performance of agriculture and livestock production in Cameroon with its second-generation agriculture through the use of technology.

Aqualculture in cage has worked in Ghana and the FAO sees in this a breakthrough to Cameroon. “We have tested it and it works and we are ready to bring in the technology to Cameroon,” Da Silva said, noting that the same concept has worked in Korea and Brazil and they were looking forward for machinery to develop this form of agriculture in Cameroon.

The New FAO Office

The FAO office in Cameroon is the first in Africa that has been added the cap of a liaison office. The organisation also has a liaison office at the African Union in Adis Ababa. The FAO senior official says the decision has been taken because Cameroon has neighburs like the Central African Republic, Chad and Nigeria that could benefit from the new FAO systems and expertise. Other countries around the continet are also expected to reap from FAO specialists. “We envisage that will be able to enlarge our work with this new partership,” harped José da Silva.