Prime Minister Philemon Yang on thursday had discussions with the President of IFAD.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has promised to scale up success stories in Cameroon through continuous support to investments in the roots and tubers sector, rice and empowering youths to embrace agriculture. Prime Minister Philemon Yang yesterday, March 1, 2012 had discussions with the visiting President of IFAD, Kanayo Felix Nwanze. He came to the Star Building after having discussed with some cabinet ministers.
Speaking to the press after meeting the Prime Minister, Kanayo Nwanze said his visit was in response to the invitation of Cameroon’s Head of State, Paul Biya. He said it comes at the time when President Biya is championing the vision 2035 aimed at making Cameroon an emerging country. Agriculture, he said, occupies a central place in the vision and, “We want to see the transformation occur in the whole value chain.”
As to the priority in IFAD’s cooperation with Cameroon, Mr Kanayo said, “IFAD is going to aggressively pursue the transformation agenda by working in partnership with the Cameroon government.” He declared that in the next phase of the organisation’s financial support from 2013 to 2015, they will make available to Cameroon a loan of between 20 to 35 million US Dollars and also strengthen the capacity of Cameroonians to manage projects. In specific terms, IFAD wants to scale up success stories in Cameroon, its President said, stating that the organisation had invested a lot in roots and tubers particularly in cassava, rice, micro-finance and will want to focus on encouraging youths in the agricultural sector. “They have the potential to feed the world,” he said and insisted that, “Youths today have to see agriculture as a business, as a profession that is economically viable, that they can feed themselves, the nation and make money.”
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is expected to be more effective in its support to Cameroon thanks to the opening of its country office in Yaounde. The Representative of IFAD to Cameroon and Gabon, Nadine Gbossa presented advanced copies of her letter of introduction in the Ministry of External Relations on February 29, 2012. Her role will be to engage in policy dialogue and support programmes that will be initiated in the next phase of Cameroon-IFAD cooperation.
Cameroon, on her part, is fully committed to the cooperation, Kanayo Felix Nwanze said. The country has demonstrated commitment to the organisation by announcing its contribution to the IFAD Nine Replenishment Process.
