Cover_Rebuilding West Africas Food Potential

Chapter 4. The case of Cameroon 119

After the hydrocarbon sector that has an expanding production in 5 of the 6 CEMAC member countries,
agriculture is the main economic activity. Overall, more than 50 percent of the CEMAC population
is dependent on agriculture. Although the situation varies widely from one country to another, the
agricultural sector employs close to 65 percent of the area’s working population and contributes about
25 percent of gross domestic product in the sub-region.

A. Cash crops

Coffee (Arabica and Robusta), cocoa, cotton in all its forms (fiber and unginned), rubber, sugar cane,
tobacco and sweet banana are the main agricultural products that are considered as cash crops.

Table 1. Agro-ecological zones in Central Africa

Zone Vegetation Cover/Rainfall Production type

Saharan Desert on 2/3 of Chad

Rainfall from 0 to 300 mm

Bare soil, palm oasis.

Rangelands for nomadic goats

and camels.

Sahelian Extreme north of Cameroon, southern third of

Chad

Rainfall between 300 and 700mm

Dry area: herbaceous vegetation

(shrubs).

Oasis dates production, camels,

donkeys.

Sudano-Sahelian to Sudanian Northern Cameroon, CAR, and southern Chad

Rainfall between 700 and 1000 mm to

1200 mm

Shrub land type vegetation.

Cereal production (millet,

sorghum, maize, rice), fruit and

vegetable crops, cotton, and

oilseeds (groundnut, sesame);

livestock on natural pastures.

Sudano-Guinean to Guinean Central Cameroon, west and center of the CAR,

southwestern Congo, southern Gabon

Rainfall 1200-1600 mm

High woodlands vegetation,

sparse forests.

Roots and tubers production

(cassava, yam, taro, potato),

cereals (maize, sorghum, rice)

and cattle rearing in pastures.

Equatorial forest Southern Cameroon and CAR, northern and

central Congo, much of Gabon, and all of

Equatorial Guinea

High humidity area with annual rainfall

between 1600 and 2500 mm, even 4000

mm (coastal and southwestern Cameroon)

or even 12000 mm (Debunsha on the

slopes of Mount Cameroon).

Roots and tubers production

(cassava, yam, taro, cocoyam),

fruits (avocado, mango, etc.),

bananas, plantain and export

crops (coffee, cocoa, palm oil,

rubber, tea); also important forest

resources (wood), fish and wildlife.