Yaounde, Cameroon Africa. (Cameroon News) - The government of Cameroon is encouraging investors in the banana sector to produce 500, 000 tons of banana by 2013, to enable the sector play an effective role in creating wealth and jobs.
Trade Minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 in the South West seaside resort town of Limbe, launched the 2012 banana season with a call on the main producers to maintain the sector as a major cash crop export.
Cameroon’s major banana producers are the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), Penja Banana Plantations (PHP) and Mbanga Banana Plantations (SPM), as well as the private producers.
“Producers are working to respect the target of 500,000 tons prescribed by government by 2013,” the General Manager of CDC who is also the President of Cameroon’s Banana Producers, Henry Njalla Quan said during the occasion.
Makossa Banana from Cameroon
The banana sector recruits 13,243 workers who cultivate a total of surface area of 7,404 hectares, “Cameroon exported 247,210 tons of banana in 2011 mainly to Europe,”, Njalla Quan said.
Producers want government to tackle the teething problems of high cost of transportation, inadequate electricity supply, lack of potable water, limited suitable land for the expansion of banana plantations, land encroachment, poor road infrastructure and delays in implementing the “Banana Accompanying Measures.”
The President of Cameroon’s Banana Producers also said the liberalization of the European Banana Market has negatively affected the revenue of Cameroonian producers.
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