Contribution of the PNDRT - CAMEROON E. TOLLY LOLO

1. FIRST MEETING OF THE IFAD ROOTS AND TUBERS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES/PROJECTSDouala, Cameroon14-16 November 2007 Contribution of the PNDRT - CAMEROON E. TOLLY LOLO Officer in Charge of the Marketing and Microenterprise Management Support Component MARKETING R&T CHAIN PRODUCTS

2. OUTLINE OF THE PRESENTATION • Introduction • Current situation of marketing • Main activities undertaken/results obtained • Organization of growers – Collective marketing • Organization and strengthening of the chain • Introduction of new processing and marketing techniques • Conclusion • Future focus of the “Marketing and small enterprise promotion” component

3. INTRODUCTION Cassava – the most exported agricultural food product Cassava is the most widely traded root and tuber crop in the Central Africa subregion. About 80%of the agricultural food products exported from Cameroon are processed cassava products (cassava rolls, fufu, gari, cassava leaves, chikwangue, etc.). In 2006 Cameroon exported about 500 tonnes of processed cassava products to the European Union and the United States. Outside the export sector, where they are poorly represented, women are the main actors in Cameroon’s cassava sector(about 85%).

4. CURRENT SITUATION OF MARKETING • Marketing systems: vary according to the nature of the product (fresh or processed): • Fresh tubers and chips(marketing carried out by women): • Rural markets: growers/sellers • Middlemen (Buyam – sellam) • Urban markets • Cassava starch: • Local supply: small-scale production, insufficient and uncompetitive in terms of quality, quantity, regularity, price; • Demand: local processing industries and agro- industries (CFAF 2 billion in 2006).

5. MARKETING ON LOCAL MARKETS • Actors’ organization • = • negotiating power Rural markets • Intermediary groups impose their prices on growers • Reason: Growers usually unorganized Transport High transport costs because: • Transporters have a monopoly • Bad state of roads in rural areas

6. EXPORTS • Subregional trade • Transport: by land and sea. • Products: rolls, gari, fufu. • Suppliers: local groups of growers/processors. • Export to the European Union and the United States • Products: chikwangue, rolls, gari, cassava leaves; • Features: unorganized, informal, dominated by men; • Problems: • Insufficient supplies of raw materials; • Lack of production equipment; • Poor grasp of quality standards.

7. MAIN ACTIVITIES OF THE MARKETING AND MICROENTREPRISE MANAGEMENT COMPONENT • Establishing a market information system (MIS) and getting it running(including the National Observatory); • Training groups of actors involved in R&T marketing; • Supporting the promotion and marketing of local products; • Supporting innovations in the R&T chain; • Improving working conditions and supporting the micro- and small enterprises in the chain; • Building a strong and sustainable interprofessional organization for actors in the R&T chain.

8. ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT: ORGANIZATION OF GROWERS 1. Collective marketing Concerns of local farmers’ organizations • How to gain access to markets? • What price should products be sold at? Activities/Responses of the PNDRT • Farmer field schools (FFSs); • Market committees; • Construction and management of storehouses and warehouses around villages; • Capacity building; • Integration of all the links in the chain in a “pipeline approach”.

9. ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT: ORGANIZATION OF GROWERS • Collective marketing Challenge How to ensure the sustainability of the dynamic set in motion, especially in regions where the social organization is not always favourable to grouping communities together. Response of the PNDRT • Taking into account of local social constraints; • Stress on the financial and organizational management of these groups.

10. ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT: STRENGTHENING THE CHAIN The domestic market • Strong and growing domestic demand; • Small starch production units, being structurally weak, are unable to meet this demand; • Actors in the starch sector do not know or trust one another; • Industrial or agro-industrial users are forced to import starch or substitutes in order to meet their requirements. Response of the PNDRT Organization of a meeting between buyers and sellers of starch in order to boost exchanges among national enterprises, reduce imports and create permanent jobs.

11. ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT: STRENGTHENING THE CHAIN • Meeting between starch buyers and sellers (Douala, June 2005 - 2 days) • Objective: to engage in trade negotiations; • Main difficulty: mobilizing user enterprises to attend this meeting and take effective part in the discussions; • Participants: 60 (45 farmers’ organizations and 15 user enterprises). • Results • Creation of a consultation platform for the actors in the chain; • Identification of specific actions: • (i) Strengthening of the technical and managerial skills of starch-producing farmers’ organizations; • (ii) Better grasp of quality standards; • (iii) Agreement on purchase contracts (for about 50 tonnes/month).

12. ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT: INTRODUCTION OF NEW PROCESSING AND MARKETING TECHNIQUES Dried cassava leaves and the Taless common interest group (CIG) • The Taless CIG: specializing in the production of dried cassava leaves for the European market. • Its constraints: • Regularity of the supply of fresh cassava leaves, • Grasp of quality standards for export, • Information on the operation of foreign markets, • Search for new partners, • Consumption of fresh orfrozen, but not dried, cassava leaves on the domestic market. • Innovation: A new type/technique of drying: • The leaves retain their nutritive value, • The product is much cheaper.

13. ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT: INTRODUCTION OF NEW PROCESSING AND MARKETING TECHNIQUES Actions to support this CIG planned by the PNDRT: • Bring cassava leaf producers together and obtain their commitment; • Train this CIG in quality standards for products in the chain intended for export; • Improve the packaging of finished products (quality of wrapping, labels, etc.); • Draw up a marketing plan to seek new markets for those products intended for export and to promote their sale on the local market.

14. CONCLUSION • The stages in implementing the PNDRT have been long and have contributed greatly to the delay noted in carrying out the activities of the marketing component: • Baseline study Choice of priority villages Formulation of village roots and tubers development plans Identification of beneficiaries’ priority needs Translation of these needs into microprojects Contractualization Implementation of the microprojects • The creation of a strong and sustainable interprofessional organization is very encouraging: • Constraints: • Limited resources of the PNDRT • Need for strengthening before the other components of the programme (Production and Structuring of Farmers’ Organizations) • Implementation of the recommendations of the mid-term review of the programme will give greater visibility to the Marketing component.

15. FUTURE FOCUS OF THE “MARKETING AND SMALL ENTERPRISE PROMOTION” COMPONENT • Getting the MIS running; • Supporting actors’ initiatives for collective marketing and forming groups; • Building the capacities and supporting the activities of local exporters of R&T products; • Supporting micro- and small entrepreneurs in the R&T chain through specialist enterprise advisers; • Taking advantage of the dynamics created in the field schools, market committees and other actors’ groups to continue structuring the interprofessional organization for the R&T chain.

16. Thank you