Camagrob, a cooperative managing approximately 1,500 cocoa producers in the Mbam and Kim department, in the Central region of Cameroon, has just purchased a cargo of inputs worth FCFA 40 million.

For the Cocoa and Coffee Board (Conseil interprofessionnel du cacao et du café - CICC) of Cameroon, this purchase which comes at the end of the very first sales campaign of this cooperative, is nothing short of an achievement.

Out of amount which was used to make the purchase received on 21 April 2016 in the town of Ngoro, FCfa 25 million were obtained through a loan granted by Advans Cameroon, a network of microfinance establishments supported by Société Générale, and which is specialised in the financing of very small enterprises. The remaining FCfa 15 million was provided by a partner (probably an exporter) whose name was not revealed.

During the last season, the very first of this cooperative, we learned, Camagrob sold a total volume of 434 tons of cocoa. A performance which brought it important partnerships with financial institutions and local traders, as claimed at the CICC, where management is mostly rejoicing of this tangible result of the Marketing Organisation Support Program (Programme d’appui à l’organisation de la commercialisation - AOC) implemented in the production areas.