Cameroon, AfricaRice Launch CFAF246.7m Push to Strengthen Rice Production

Cameroon’s Rice Value Chain Development Project (RVCDP) has signed a CFAF246.7 million protocol agreement with the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) to transfer rice production, processing and equipment technologies as the government seeks to increase local output and reduce dependence on imports. The two-year initiative, co-funded by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and AfricaRice, was signed on September 11 in Yaounde.

The agreement targets four areas: strengthening the national rice seed system, improving processing and value addition, developing local capacity to manufacture agricultural equipment, and providing technical support to institutions including the Agricultural Research Institute for Development (IRAD) and the Upper Nun Valley Development Authority (UNVDA).

Implementation will be coordinated by a joint technical working group based in Bamenda. The program will use a Reverse Linkage approach to transfer AfricaRice’s technology and technical expertise to Cameroon. Under the seed component, the partners plan to improve seed production, quality control, certification, storage and the management of genetic material.

Post-harvest interventions will focus on reducing losses and improving the quality and competitiveness of locally processed rice. The agreement also targets domestic production of agricultural machinery. Local artisans will receive technical training to manufacture equipment, including improved rice threshers and GEM parboilers.

Baboucarr Manneh, Director General of AfricaRice, said the partnership would combine the organization’s expertise with existing capacity in Cameroon, with productivity and sustainability among its priorities.

“We intend to combine these transformative technologies and eventually be able to increase the production and productivity of rice in Cameroon and also for local rice to be competitive in the market. An additional component of our partnership is not only to increase production and productivity, we are thinking about the sustainability of rice. All the actions that we are going to undertake through capacity building and the training of technicians and farmers along the value chain are intended to ensure they have the skills required for good production in their fields,” Manneh said.

CFAF268.7bn Still Spent on Rice Imports

The partnership comes as rice continues to weigh heavily on Cameroon’s import bill. The country spent CFAF268.7 billion on rice imports in 2025, down 15.6% from 2024. Rice alone accounted for 5.1% of the country’s total import expenditure.

The National Institute of Statistics (INS) puts the 2024 rice import bill at CFAF318.6 billion, up 58.6% year-on-year.

Government projections contained in the 2025-2027 Medium-Term Economic and Budgetary Programming Document target an increase in national rice production from 140,710 tons in 2024 to 460,000 tons by 2027.

More recent INS data published in August 2026 show that Cameroon’s food import bill fell by CFAF11 billion, or about 17%, in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier. The institute attributed part of the decline to lower rice imports following an expansion in cultivated areas and higher customs duties.

Muluh Gregory Nguh, National Coordinator of the RVCDP, said the agreement with AfricaRice forms part of efforts to increase domestic production and narrow the supply gap.

“The rice value chain project is here to see how it can assist the government to reach its rice sufficiency target, and also help improve household income and economic growth. That is the objective of the project and we needed partners that can help us to attain these objectives. That is why we are signing this protocol agreement with AfricaRice,” Nguh said.

Mercy Fosoh