Certified Banana Exports Reach 73% of Cameroon Total Under Five-Year Program

Certified banana production accounted for 73 percent of Cameroon’s banana export volumes in 2025, or about 160,000 metric tonnes annually, according to Regeneration Takes Roots in Cameroon, a report released by the international NGO Rainforest Alliance. The publication details a five-year, $15.4 million (8.8 billion CFA francs) program implemented from 2020 to 2025 across three landscapes spanning 1.1 million hectares and benefiting more than 120,000 people.

The report estimates that certified cocoa now accounts for 42 percent of national production. The program combined ecological restoration with support for market access and focused on three regions: the Grand Mbam area of the Centre Region, the Western Highlands of the North West and West Regions, and the Dja Landscape in the South Region.

“We want to move from just protecting the environment to regenerating the same environment,” said Ndeye N. Sarr, Regional Communications Manager at Rainforest Alliance. According to Sarr, the initiative seeks to align agricultural production with ecological restoration while improving producers’ long-term competitiveness in international markets.

In Grand Mbam, $5.2 million (2.99 billion CFA francs) was invested to help cocoa producers comply with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), whose requirements will determine continued access to the EU market, the main destination for Cameroon’s certified cocoa and bananas. In the Western Highlands, $4.6 million (2.65 billion CFA francs) financed two Landscape Management Committees and nine Communal Commissions, restoring seven water sources and rehabilitating 251.85 hectares of mountainous terrain. In the Dja Landscape, $5.6 million (3.22 billion CFA francs) supported Indigenous communities and women’s cooperatives, helping secure five commercial contracts for cassava chips and moabi oil. The program also enabled the sale of 95,017 kg of certified cocoa, generating 238.5 million CFA francs in local sales.

The certification drive coincides with continued growth in Cameroon’s banana industry. According to the Banana Producers’ Association of Cameroon (Assobacam), national banana exports reached 225,345 metric tonnes in 2025, up 7 percent from 210,686 tonnes in 2024, driven by higher shipments from the Compagnie des Bananes de Mondoni (CDBM) and the state-owned Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC). Bananas remain among Cameroon’s top ten non-oil exports, with the European Union serving as the principal export market. Under its National Development Strategy 2020-2030, the government aims to raise annual banana production to 500,000 tonnes by 2030.

Cocoa also remains one of Cameroon’s leading agricultural export crops, according to the National Institute of Statistics. However, Business in Cameroon reported that producer prices during the 2025-2026 season fell short of government targets because of global oversupply.

The five-year program concluded in 2025, providing a framework for combining environmental restoration, sustainable agricultural practices and compliance with evolving international market standards.

Mercy Fosoh