CAMEROON
A country of 18.5 million with oil but lots of poor and lots of problems.
Economic summary:
GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $39.37 billion; per capita $2,100.
Real growth rate: 3.3%.
Inflation: 0.9%.
Unemployment: 30% (2001 est.).
Arable land: 13%.
Agriculture: coffee, cocoa, cotton, rubber, bananas, oilseed, grains, root starches; livestock; timber.
Labor force: 6.86 million; agriculture 70%, industry and commerce 13%, other 17%.
Industries: petroleum production and refining, aluminum production, food processing, light consumer goods, textiles, lumber, ship repair.
Natural resources: petroleum, bauxite, iron ore, timber, hydropower.
Exports: $3.236 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): crude oil and petroleum products, lumber, cocoa beans, aluminum, coffee, cotton.
Imports: $2.514 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): machinery, electrical equipment, transport equipment, fuel, food.
Major trading partners: Spain, Italy, UK, France, U.S., South Korea, Netherlands, Nigeria, Belgium, China, Germany (2004).
With mineral fuels and aluminium and a balance of trade surplus as well as a large Agricultural sector Cameroon should not be suffering from half its population below the poverty line, governance issues, high infant mortality and low life expectancy. But it does. Earnings from petroleum and refining and aluminium should provide the means for developing agriculture which provides livelihood for over 60% of the population.
Use of Arable Land
As in the chart above, the main crop areas are for Sorghum, Maize, Cassava and Taro for the domestic market and Cocoa Beans and Coffee, followed by Groundnuts, Bananas and Cotton for export, together with timber from forestry. Timber is actually the most important crop by tradition. This land use leads to the following production:
Further guidance is provided by looking at tons produced. In particular, there has been an impressive growth in production of oil palm and palm oil.
Production of palm oil is fordomestic needs of cooking oil as well as a major export item. Oil palm is also a relatively high value per ha produce and is thus a good candidate for further diversification.
Trade
The main imports are:
Rice and wheat are by far the most important agricultural produce imported in tonnage and the most important exported volumes are:
Returns
In order to evaluate the value of land allocated, it is necessary to examine the rate of return per hectare achieved by farmers:
Sorghum and maize have low returns per ha but are the leading land allocations. First attention must be given to possible improvements in the value chains of these two crops since any improvement will act as a major engine of growth. Only then can attention be given to possibilities for reducing dependency through diversification. The highest value per ha is from tomatoes, onions, pineapples, mangoes, oil palm, vegetables, sugar, plantins and rubber. These facts are not the whole picture but rather, they tell us what issues to explore. Tomatoes are often high value but in the Cameroon earn over $4,500 per ha, cherry tomatoes would yield even more.
Despite the poverty levels this also suggests that a higher value better quality Middle Class market is developing and provides an opportunity for further growth.