Inventions and innovations in the country over the years will be on display in Ebolowa. Scientific research results, especially in the agro-pastoral sector, that were developed over the years, with fruits yet to be fully visible in the country’s agriculture, would bid farewell to the researchers’ drawers where they have been kept and hopefully attract farmers that badly need them to boost productivity. Scientific researchers, inventors and innovators placed under the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation (MINRESI) are heading for Ebolowa with the objective to popularise their research results and win the attention and confidence of as many people as possible.

Officials of MINRESI say their presence in Ebolowa will go beyond mere participation. “The Ebolowa National Agro pastoral Show offers triple opportunities to Cameroon’s scientific research”, a press document from MINRESI reads. It will serve as an opportunity for scientific research to reaffirm its role as a development tool, through technological innovation, to sustain the country’s growth policies, contained in the Growth and Employment Paper. Reason why MINRESI will be despatching innovations capable of boosting agricultural production in the rural milieu as well as improving the standards of living of Cameroonians.

The Agronomic Research Institute (IRAD) will therefore be at the forefront with its latest research results in the various food sectors. Improved disease-resistant and high-yielding seedlings of food crops like rice, maize, beans, yam and cassava, among others, will be on display. The greatest challenge will however be to convince farmers, most of who are still sceptical about these seedlings and who argue that most of the crops do not taste well.

With plans by government to construct low-cost housing units across the country, the Local Materials Promotion Authority (MIPROMALO) will arguably use the Ebolowa show to convince stakeholders that the project, like others piloted by the State or individuals, could use cost-effective local materials to execute sustainable housing projects. This is in view of attaining its main objective of promoting the use of locally manufactured materials in order to reduce the cost of nation building. MIPROMALO products like compressed earth blocks, micro-concrete floor tiles, granite-concrete floor tiles, dimension stones, paving stones, balusters and concrete pre-fabricated stone railings, among others, will surely steal the show in Ebolowa.

Other institutions placed under MINRESI like the National Institute of Cartography, Mining and Geological Research Institute, Medical Research Institute on Medicinal Plants, National Radioprotection Agency, National Centre for Technological Development and the National Education Centre are also bracing up for excellence when the kicker for the six-day show will be given on Monday January 17, 2011.