(3 Minutes Read)
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (Minader), Gabriel Mbairobe, will officially launch today a new regulatory monitoring and sanitary surveillance platform designed to enhance the quality of Cameroonian cocoa and coffee. The platform will be inaugurated in Yaoundé and aims to align national production with international sanitary and phytosanitary standards.
Established on January 19, 2023, the platform serves as a collaborative framework between the government and private sector stakeholders within the cocoa and coffee industries, represented by the Cocoa and Coffee Interprofessional Council (CICC). Its primary mission is to ensure the sanitary safety of Cameroonian cocoa and coffee to meet the regulatory requirements of both domestic and global markets.
According to the ministerial decision that established the platform, its responsibilities include identifying key sources of international regulatory information, tracking changes in market standards, especially concerning pesticide residue limits, mycotoxins, heavy metals, packaging materials, and mandatory treatments, and disseminating alerts on sanitary and phytosanitary risks. It will also monitor and report on any interceptions or rejections by importing countries and conduct routine assessments of product compliance with international quality benchmarks.
This initiative complements other government efforts over the past decade aimed at enhancing the quality of Cameroon’s cocoa and coffee. Notable measures include the creation of post-harvest processing centres to produce “zero defect” cocoa and the implementation of a quality-based incentive scheme, which has awarded around 5 billion CFA francs to high-quality cocoa producers since the 2017–2018 season.
These combined efforts are yielding tangible results. The National Cocoa and Coffee Board (ONCC) reported that Cameroon recorded the highest volume of quality-controlled beans and the greatest percentage of Grade I cocoa in two decades during the 2020–2021 season.
In a significant acknowledgement of progress, the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) admitted Cameroon in June 2023 into the elite category of fine cocoa producers. “Fine cocoa is defined by exceptional flavour and aroma, similar to how wine is categorised. What matters most is post-harvest processing,” explained ICCO Executive Director Michel Arrion.
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Beyond cocoa and coffee, Cameroon’s agricultural exports—especially bananas—remain a key source of revenue. Europe is the main destination, with the United Kingdom alone accounting for 13% of banana exports, worth nearly €10 million. To ensure continued preferential access post-Brexit, the UK agreed to uphold Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) initially signed between Cameroon and the EU.
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