Douala, Cameroon Africa. February 2011. (Cameroon News) – CEMAC to partner with Israel to Improve Agricultural Production.

A deal to improve technical synergy to improve agricultural produce in the country was signed between Israel and Cameroon in Yaounde yesterday.
The Economic and Monetary Union of Central African States (CEMAC) has finalized to ink an agreement with the government of Israel wherein both countries will cooperate with each other in the production of pesticides working towards the aim of enhancing agricultural production in the Sub-region.

The signing of the agreement took place yesterday January 31, 2011 at the campus of the Inter-States Pesticides Committee for Central Africa (CPAC) at the Bastos neighborhood in Yaounde.
Israel’s Ambassador to Cameroon, Michael Arbel signed the deal on behalf of Israel while the Chairman of the CEMAC Commission, Antoine Ntsimi, inked on behalf of the six-member States institution.

According to the Israeli Ambassador to Cameroon, the world is moving at a very fast pace and countries like Israel cannot afford to take a back seat and look at countries like Cameroon who have offered them a handshake of friendship lag seriously behind in a sector like agriculture where it just required a small push to go places.
“Nowadays, every country which produces and wants to export has to obey certain rules, especially the residues of pesticides.
Fortunately in Israel, we export much of our produce and have gained so much experience and we have decided to share this experience with friendly CEMAC countries”, Michael Arbel said.

According to the terms of the agreement, Israel will disburse its bank of knowledge in pesticides regulation with CPAC so as to enhance the latter’s operations in the sanitation of agricultural production which will not just help to conserve the environment but would also aid in improving the health of the locals who consume the produce.
This in turn would also improve the image of the agricultural products in the global market while giving the exports a huge competitive advantage in the international market.
Addressing the audience during the ceremony, Antoine Ntsimi said Israel has attained much more progress in scientific development, and one sector where they exude a lot of confidence in is the sector of pesticides and that the partnership will be long lasting as well as sustainable.

“We believe that with this cooperation agreement, individual countries and countries of the CEMAC Sub-region will benefit significantly from technological advancement in the agricultural sector which is a lever for socio-economic development, not only because it ensures food security and safety, but equally for the livelihoods of the population, most of whom are agriculture-base”, he said.
CEMAC member countries, he added, deploy more than FCFA 22 billion every year on pesticides with the aim to boost agricultural production.
This was also an observation that was echoed once again by the Permanent Secretary of CPAC, Benoit Bouato , adding that the agreement will go a long way to enhance the operations of CPAC.