Extreme weather threatens Cameroon’s hopes of becoming a cocoa giant
Buea — Cameroon’s plan to more than double cocoa production by 2020, moving the country up the global ranks of producers and improving incomes for its farmers, is under increasing threat from extreme weather, according to the state support company for growers. Heavy rains have slowed expected output and rattled farmers, with many switching to food crop production to make a more reliable living. "The rains have been so severe in recent times, coming even when least expected, generating production worries for both farmers and the government," said Jerome Mvondo, director-general of the Cameroon Cocoa Development Corporation, at an event in Buea, the capital of the country’s Southwest region and its main cocoa-producing zone. Cameroon is the world’s fifth biggest cocoa grower behind the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Indonesia. According to government statistics, the crop accounts for about half the country’s exports of basic products such as food, timber, fish and minerals. Cocoa sal...
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