The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development was in Kumba, South West Region recently.

Agriculture and Rural Development Minister, Essimi Menye, has disclosed that, in no distant time, Cameroon will start producing high-yielding cassava, maize, vegetables, palm oil and plantains on an industrial scale, to ascertain food security and job opportunities. The Minister was speaking recently, at the head office of the Mukete Estate Limited in Kumba, during a one day working visit to the plantations of Senator Nfon V.E Mukete.

According to Essimi Menye, the Mukete Estate Limited is larger and more productive than one could think. In a bit to acknowledge the contribution of this great farmer to other aspects of the nation, the Minister said he has left an indelible mark in the private sector. He used the forum to call on the people of Kumba, to follow the footsteps of Senator Nfon  V.E Mukete, the one he described as “captain in the agro-industrial sector.” He revealed that government is encouraging farming through the provision of farm seeds and funding to farmers for the processing  and good use of produce  free of charge.

Minister Essimi Menye took time off to visit the Agro-industrial sector with palms, rubber and cocoa plantations, alongside a pineapple farm and a cattle range to show.  Processing materials were off for show. Some of the farms are getting over 100 years with production going beyond handling capacity, creating employment and meeting with the industrial demands in the country.

While acknowledging government’s inputs in funding and farm chemicals, the General Manager of Mukete Estate Limited, Godfred Mbe Mukete, said their endeavour will become more sustainable and productive if the capacity of the oil mill in Banga Bakundu is increased to step up  its daily 14 tones production, as well as setting up of a pineapple factory among others. The GM observed that, the Minister’s visit will bring in new innovations into rural farming.

He disclosed that the plantation was founded in 1910, with cocoa being the main crop cultivated. Adding that, the estate now boasts of some 300 workers on its pay roll with social benefits such as water, electricity and schools, provided to their camps.

The Minister was accompanied by the Governor of the Southwest Region, Bernard Okalia Bilai who alongside Nfon V.E Mukete, visited the plantations in Banga-Bakundu  and Nkamlikum before being received by the Government Delegate to the Kumba City Council, Victor Nkelle Ngoh and the population on the esplanade of the Mukete Estate Limited Head Office in Kumba.