Cover_Rebuilding West Africas Food Potential

Chapter 16. Enhancing cassava marketing and processing in Cameroon 509

Those products are generally purchased from local weekly markets and cannot be found in supermarkets.
Gari and sticks are purchased for immediate consumption whereas fufu and fresh roots are sometimes
preserved over several days. Quantities purchased are in general limited, due to high perishability. It
is often stated that all those products cannot be kept for long and have high impurity rates (in any
case, not reliable or consistent either). Sticks are more appreciated with more elasticity, clear color, and
without acidity. Consumers do not like the lack of transparency on the part of sellers who often display
good quality samples that are much better than the products they actually sell.

2.3 Cassava production in Cameroon

Root and tuber production, especially cassava, generally relies on smallholders whose farms are mostly less
than 2 ha (cassava plots’ acreage). It can also be found in mid-size farms (2-4 ha) and larger producers (over 4
ha). A survey conducted in 1995 exhibited the following distribution of cassava farms which, although out of
date, has been confirmed by FAO in 2010 (Martin Tsounkeu 2010) and fieldwork conducted for this chapter.

It is important to recall that local cassava varieties in humid areas require a 12-18 months production
cycle, expanding to 15-24 months in highlands and sub-Saharan conditions. The growing cycle has
however been reduced to 10-15 months for the PNDRT popularized varieties in humid conditions, and
15-18 months in other areas.^6

The main production areas for cassava are concentrated in the Southwestern region and another part
in the littoral region (shore). Gari and waterfufu production is more spread. Those products constitute
the base of the local population’s nutrition, which explains why weekly village or communal markets
are of crucial importance (Table 4).

(^6) Due to a lack of financial resources, and in order to maximize impacts and avoid resource diversion, PNDRT
strategy was amended and now supports only 20 percent out of the 6,000 villages which were identified as
involved in cassava production.

Table 4. The main production areas for cassava in Cameroon

Product GARI WATERFUFU FUFU

Main areas Malendé (Muyuka)

Muyuka

Oyé

Passim (Melong)

Balengui (Kumba)

Batoke et Bakinguili (Limbe)

Lelem (Melon)

Sollé (Yabassi)

Malende (Muyuka)

Malende (Kumba)

Ikiliwindi

Baré (Nkongsamba)

Melong II

Sollé (Yabassi)

Source: PNDRT, 2010

Table 3. Cassava farm sizes

Farm size Acreage %

Small plots < = 2 ha 62,5

Mid-size plots 2 – 4 ha 17,5

Large plots >4 ha 20

Total 100

Source: OCISCA Survey, 1995