The government of Cameroon has launched activities leading up to raising funds on December 11, 2014 within the Telefood programme to finance agricultural development projects in the country.

Agriculture and Rural Development Minister, Essimi Menye, accompanied by other cabinet Ministers and development partners, gave the kicker in Ayos, Nyong and Mfoumou Division of the Centre Region on Wednesday October 22. This was part of commemorative activities to mark the 34th World Food Day on the theme, “Family farming: Feeding the world, caring for the earth.”

Stressing on the importance of the Telefood programme, drafted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to finance concrete programmes susceptible to curbing under nourishment, Minister Essimi Menye said the initiative has been a salutary one thus far. “Over the last two years, we have been able to collect about FCFA 150 million. This money is being used now to finance specific projects.

I hope by mid November, we will come up with the list of projects funded by Telefood programme,” he said. On the target of 2014, the 14th edition, the Minister said, “this year we intend to get at least FCFA 200 million. That is why we want to campaign across all the cities of the country so as to meet with people to ask them to subscribe so as to donate for agriculture.” All of these will culminate on December 11, 2014 in a grand gala during which subscribers will chip in their contributions.

Commenting on family farming which for now is the base of the country’s agriculture, the MINADER boss said there is need for selected high-yielding seeds to continue to produce. “We should also be selective when we want to produce because we cannot just start producing anything given that we need to know where to sell what we produce. We should also know how much the market can absorb before you start producing cassava, maize etc,” he noted.

Reason why MINADER, he added, has started a new programme that brings buyers together farmers to discuss with new cooperatives so as to produce what the market wants. “We have also started a value-chain approach which means our products should be developed in the view of going from the farm to the table. We need to make sure that when we produce any crop we add value to it for better preservation,” Essimi Menye observed.

According to the Resident Representative of FAO in Cameroon, Mai Moussa Abari, Cameroon has achieved a very important goal with aim to reducing the proportion of people suffering from under nourishment at least by half by 2015.