The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Gabriel Mbairobe, has officially launched the Rice Value Chain Development Project. The launch took place on Wednesday, 13 September 2023, at the Bouma AB hall of Hilton Hotel in Yaounde.
During the launch, the Minister underscored the importance of this project, which falls within government’s vision of food sustainability and security, women and youth employment, poverty reduction, economic growth, and 3rd generation agriculture. He was particularly grateful to the donors for aligning with government’s vision and partnering with the government of Cameroon in its drive towards emergence.
In his address, the Operations Team Leader at the Islamic Development Bank, Mr Javed Khan, was elated to be part of this great venture. To him, rice is only a stable food, but represents a culture. He pledged the continuous support of his organization, to see the fulfillment of all the terms of their agreement with the government of Cameroon.
Taking the rustrom, the National Coordinator of the RVCDP, Mr. Muluh Gregory Nguh explained to keen listeners that the project is jointly sponsored by 7 donors with the Islamic Bank for Arab Development being the greatest sponsor. Other sponsors include BADEA, OPEC Fund, Kuwait Fund, Saudi Fund, Abu Dhabi Fund and the government of Cameroon, all to the tune of 203.946.762 euros, for a period of 5 years.
According to him, the project will be implemented in the North West, West and Far North regions of Cameroon, with specific objectives of increasing rice production and productivity, increasing smallholder farmers’ income, strengthening human and social institutional capacity for promoting profitable rice production and creating an enabling environment for agricultural enterprise. In his words, the RVCDP is expected to increase national Rice production by 10% and create over 250.000 jobs.Also present at the launch was the Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, the Minister of State Property, Surveys and Land Tenure, the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Public Contracts, the Head of Operations at the Islamic Bank, the Governor of the North West Region (Vice-President of the Steering Committee), the Governor of the Centre Region, a delegation from BADEA, administrative dignitaries, and stakeholders in the rice value chain.