The dairy sector in Cameroon features the demand for 446,913 tons of dairy products in the North West, West, Littoral and South West Regions in 2016 with 495,500 tons expected by 2019. Recent household budgets and consumption of dairy products equally features 20 kg in demand per person per year in Cameroon. The situation inspires efforts to enhance production for domestic consumption at a time when it is on record that Cameroon imported 33 billion worth of dairy products in 2014. ,

The Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines, takes credit for a recent research to improve the industry. The result was the subject of a presentation in Bamenda recently. The President of the Chamber, Christophe Eken was in the chair when stakeholders were inspired to rise to expectation in a sector where primitive or traditional methods of production are not helping matters. It emerged from the Bamenda presentation that one third of Cameroon’s dairy production in 2014 came from the grand west basin. The details feature the grand west ( North West, West) leading with 82,999 tons of fresh milk, 2,230 tons of yoghourt and two tons of butter in domestic production. The North West however; leads the production with 67,913 tons of fresh milk.

The Adamawa basin features 78,302 tons of fresh milk, 182 tons of yoghourt, 34 tons of butter and three tons of cheese. The grand North which covers the Far North and North Regions, registers 69,521 tons of fresh milk production, 543 tons of yoghourt,40 tons of butter and two tons of cheese while the Centre, Littoral, South West, East and South Regions jointly produced 6,780 tons of fresh milk, 58 tons of yoghourt ,80 tons of butter and five tons of cheese. The research over the same period revealed that 17,830 tons of fresh powdered, concentrated milk, yoghourts etc. were imported.

Matching demand with supply, it emerged that 237,000 tons were produced domestically while 135,000 was imported for a margin of 59,000 tons with the consequence that domestic production has to face three challenges of compensating for imports, filing up the margin and covering the growth of the demand over time.

Strengths to improve production, especially in the huge production basin of the grand west features the warm, humid and rainy climate, with a rich agricultural and grass coverage. The grand West takes credit with a dairy herd of about 470,000 heads which accounts for 27 percent of the national dairy herd estimated at 1,724,173 cows. The industrious population of the grand West is a major plus to enhance dairy production while the close proximity to the largest dairy consumer market regions of the Centre, littoral, South West and Grand West Regions is another advantage.

The research finding suggests the need to upgrade the orbital level of the entire dairy production chain by focusing on the weakest point in the chain, coordinating commercial activity to stimulate demand by influencing the transformation function, then on the fresh milk production function.