Cameroon: CCIC to produce 2 million coffee plants by 2017

In view of the continuous decline of coffee plantations in Cameroon, the Cocoa and Coffee Interprofessional Council (CCIC) has decided to re-revitalize the sector this year.

The Emergency programme is aimed at improving coffee production.

Executive Secretary of the CCIC, Omer Gatien said the new programme will make about 2 million coffee plants available to producers by 2017.

The objective is to create 600 hectares of new plantations annually, that is 1800 hectares over 3 years in three selected zones.

The programme however faced some challenges in the first year of implementation largely due to unavailability of plants for producers.

According to the CCIC, only 75,000 plants had been kept at the disposal of coffee producers, which is barely 10 percent of the number requested.

Coffee producers in the country had requested 780,000 coffee plants from the national seed programme.

Within the framework of this program, the CCIC has put in place “all the inputs necessary for the creation of the plantations, (pesticides, fertilizers, plant bags, threads, materials, small farm implements, etc.).

The group said they have given everything to the producers, except the workforce and the farms.