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June 26, 2024 (Oslo, Norway) – The Executive Board of the Central African Forest Initiative approved the first large scale project in the Cameroon-CAFI partnership this week, to be implemented by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
The $20 million in funding will support to the Cameroon Coffee and Cocoa Development Fund (‘FODECC’ in French), over the next 3 years, which will be complemented by significant domestic resources and funding from the European Union.
As the world's 5th largest cocoa producer and a major coffee grower, Cameroon is committed to producing sustainable cocoa and supporting its producers in complying with the requirements of the European Union Regulation on Deforestation-free products (EUDR). Yet Cameroon's 700,000 coffee and cocoa producers, the majority of whom are smallholders, face major challenges in complying with the EUDR, putting them at a disadvantage. To support small-scale producers in their agro-ecological coffee and cocoa production, Cameroon has developed a unique funding tool, the Coffee and Cocoa Development Fund, (in French ‘Fonds de Développement des Filières Café et Cacao’, or FODECC).
FODECC already manages a direct funding mechanism for cocoa and coffee producers called the 'Guichet Producteurs'. Funded in the amount of 12 million euros per year by national resources through a levy on cocoa and coffee exports, FODECC has enabled geolocation of plots and opening accounts for the 223,000 small-scale producers in Cameroon who benefit from subsidies for the sustainable intensification of their production.
The Ministry of Economy, Planning and Land Planning of Cameroon (MINEPAT) leads the Cameroon-CAFI partnership. According to M. Ernest Nnanga, Head of the Prospection and Strategic Planning Division of MINEPAT, "We have worked closely with sectorial ministries, the CAFI Secretariat and the implementing organizations we have selected together to design robust projects. We are convinced that, for this specific project with IFAD to support FODECC as well as in partnership with CAFI as a whole, we have the potential to have a major impact on promoting sustainable agriculture and helping millions of producers in Cameroon."
The country indeed aims to scale enrollment of small producers from the current 223,000 up to 300,000 producers by 2025. Speaking on behalf of the CAFI Executive Board, Maggie Charnley, Head of the International Forest Unit for the UK government (CAFI’s current Chair) declared “CAFI is thrilled with this major step in the partnership with Cameroon, and that the first large project that we approved supports the innovation already coming from within the country through FODECC.” CAFI will support FODECC with $20 million over the next 3 years, which represents the budget for approximately one year of FODECC operations. The establishment of this system has received support from the European Union as part of the 2023 sector reform contracts.
After a competitive Call for Expressions of Interest, MINEPAT and CAFI selected IFAD, the only UN specialized agency focusing on rural development exclusively and an International Financing Instrument (IFI), as the implementing agency for this project. The partnership with IFAD on this innovative project demonstrates the appetite approaches that combine country-led sustainable development and new types of sustainability-focused economic development models. "The cooperation between partners allows us to support Cameroonian coffee and cocoa producers so that they can increase their income, notably by improving their productivity. This will contribute to creating a new generation of farmers, as well as building resilient rural communities to climate change, while working towards forest protection and improving the livelihoods of Cameroonian coffee and cocoa producers," said Bernard Hien, Regional Director for West and Central Africa at IFAD.
“FODECC warmly welcomes this new support of CAFI and IFAD. Together, we need to ensure that the success we have already seen with our coffee and cocoa farmers can be scaled up to help even more Cameroonians in the coming years, and that we can better meet EUDR requirements. With this first project, we hope to lay the foundations for a longer-term collaboration: for positive outcomes for our country's farmers and for the work between FODECC and CAFI,” added FODECC Administrator Dr. Samuel Donatien Nengue. The Cameroon government's objective is to scale up the scheme to support all 700,000 Cameroonian households dependent on these 2 export sectors to Europe, and ultimately to support the 2.7 million Cameroonian households dependent on agriculture in their transition to deforestation-free agroecological practices.
The CAFI Executive Board’s approval of this major project demonstrates tangible progress in its partnership with Cameroon. It also embodies the efforts to scale up international support for deforestation-free agriculture in Cameroon. Furthermore, the start-up phase of this project will help monitor efficiency and effectiveness of an existing governmental subsidies programme, and lays the groundwork for scaling up, using lessons learned to adapt the approach as needed.
The potential and challenges of deforestation-free private sector investments in the region were central to a side event organized today by CAFI during the Norwegian–led Oslo Tropical Forest Forum. The event was opened by H.E. Eve Bazaiba, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Featuring the Administrator of FODECC, IFAD's Director of Environment, Climate, Gender and Social Inclusion as well as the Country Director for Cameroon, the private company ARISE and CAFI, the event explored the intersection of sustainable investments and environmental conservation, focusing on agriculture and forestry.