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FIRST MEETING OF THE IFAD ROOTS AND TUBERS
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES/PROJECTS
Douala, Cameroon
14-16 November 2007
MARKETING R&T CHAIN PRODUCTS
Contribution of the PNDRT - CAMEROON
E. TOLLY LOLO
Officer in Charge of the Marketing and Microenterprise Management Support Component
OUTLINE OF THE PRESENTATION
 Introduction
 Current situation of marketing
 Main activities undertaken/results obtained
 Organization of growers – Collective marketing
 Organization and strengthening of the chain
 Introduction of new processing and marketing
techniques
 Conclusion
 Future focus of the “Marketing and small
enterprise promotion” component
INTRODUCTION
Cassava – the most exported agricultural food product
Cassava is the most widely traded root and tuber crop in
the Central Africa subregion.
About 80% of the agricultural food products exported
from Cameroon are processed cassava products (cassava
rolls, fufu, gari, cassava leaves, chikwangue, etc.).
In 2006 Cameroon exported about 500 tonnes of
processed cassava products to the European Union and
the United States.
Outside the export sector, where they are poorly
represented, women are the main actors in Cameroon’s
cassava sector (about 85%).
CURRENT SITUATION OF MARKETING
Marketing systems: vary according to the nature of the
product (fresh or processed):

 Fresh tubers and chips (marketing carried out by
women):
 Rural markets: growers/sellers
 Middlemen (Buyam – sellam)
 Urban markets

Cassava starch:
 Local supply: small-scale production, insufficient
and uncompetitive in terms of quality, quantity,
regularity, price;
 Demand: local processing industries and agroindustries (CFAF 2 billion in 2006).
MARKETING ON LOCAL MARKETS
Actors’ organization
=
negotiating power
Rural markets
Intermediary groups impose their prices on growers
Reason: Growers usually unorganized
Transport
High transport costs because:
 Transporters have a monopoly
 Bad state of roads in rural areas
EXPORTS

Subregional trade
 Transport: by land and sea.
 Products: rolls, gari, fufu.
 Suppliers: local groups of growers/processors.

Export to the European Union and the United States
 Products: chikwangue, rolls, gari, cassava leaves;
 Features: unorganized, informal, dominated by
men;
 Problems:
 Insufficient supplies of raw materials;
 Lack of production equipment;
 Poor grasp of quality standards.
MAIN ACTIVITIES OF THE MARKETING AND
MICROENTREPRISE MANAGEMENT COMPONENT
 Establishing
a market information system
(MIS) and getting it running (including the
National Observatory);
 Training groups of actors involved in R&T
marketing;
 Supporting the promotion and marketing of
local products;
 Supporting innovations in the R&T chain;
 Improving working conditions and supporting
the micro- and small enterprises in the chain;
 Building
a
strong
and
sustainable
interprofessional organization for actors in the
R&T chain.
ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT: ORGANIZATION OF GROWERS
1. Collective marketing
Concerns of local farmers’ organizations
» How to gain access to markets?
» What price should products be sold at?
Activities/Responses of the PNDRT
1.Farmer field schools (FFSs);
2.Market committees;
3.Construction and management of storehouses and
warehouses around villages;
4.Capacity building;
5.Integration of all the links in the chain in a “pipeline
approach”.
ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT: ORGANIZATION OF GROWERS
1.Collective marketing
Challenge
How to ensure the sustainability of the dynamic
set in motion, especially in regions where the social
organization is not always favourable to grouping
communities together.
Response of the PNDRT
– Taking into account of local social constraints;
– Stress on the financial and organizational management
of these groups.
ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT: STRENGTHENING THE CHAIN
The domestic market
• Strong and growing domestic demand;
• Small starch production units, being structurally weak, are unable to
meet this demand;
• Actors in the starch sector do not know or trust one another;
• Industrial or agro-industrial users are forced to import starch or
substitutes in order to meet their requirements.
Response of the PNDRT
Organization of a meeting between buyers and sellers of
starch in order to boost exchanges among national
enterprises, reduce imports and create permanent jobs.
ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT: STRENGTHENING THE CHAIN
 Meeting between starch buyers and sellers
(Douala, June 2005 - 2 days)
• Objective: to engage in trade negotiations;
• Main difficulty: mobilizing user enterprises to attend this meeting and
take effective part in the discussions;
• Participants: 60 (45 farmers’ organizations and 15 user enterprises).
 Results
• Creation of a consultation platform for the actors in the chain;
• Identification of specific actions:
– (i) Strengthening of the technical and managerial skills of starchproducing farmers’ organizations;
– (ii) Better grasp of quality standards;
– (iii) Agreement on purchase contracts (for about 50 tonnes/month).
ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT: INTRODUCTION OF NEW PROCESSING
AND MARKETING TECHNIQUES
Dried cassava leaves and the Taless common interest
group (CIG)
 The Taless CIG: specializing in the production of dried
cassava leaves for the European market.
 Its constraints:





Regularity of the supply of fresh cassava leaves,
Grasp of quality standards for export,
Information on the operation of foreign markets,
Search for new partners,
Consumption of fresh or frozen, but not dried, cassava leaves on
the domestic market.
 Innovation: A new type/technique of drying:
 The leaves retain their nutritive value,
 The product is much cheaper.
ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT: INTRODUCTION OF NEW
PROCESSING AND MARKETING TECHNIQUES
Actions to support this CIG planned by the PNDRT:
• Bring cassava leaf producers together and obtain their
commitment;
• Train this CIG in quality standards for products in the
chain intended for export;
• Improve the packaging of finished products (quality of
wrapping, labels, etc.);
• Draw up a marketing plan to seek new markets for those
products intended for export and to promote their sale on
the local market.
CONCLUSION
 The stages in implementing the PNDRT have been long
and have contributed greatly to the delay noted in carrying out the activities
of the marketing component:
Baseline study
Choice of priority villages
Formulation of village roots and
tubers development plans
Identification of beneficiaries’ priority needs
Translation of these needs into microprojects
Contractualization
Implementation of the microprojects
 The
creation
of
a
strong
and
sustainable
interprofessional organization is very encouraging:
Constraints:
•Limited resources of the PNDRT
•Need for strengthening before the other components of the
programme (Production and Structuring of Farmers’ Organizations)
 Implementation of the recommendations of the midterm review of the programme will give greater visibility to the
Marketing component.
FUTURE FOCUS OF THE “MARKETING AND SMALL
ENTERPRISE PROMOTION” COMPONENT
 Getting the MIS running;
 Supporting actors’ initiatives for collective marketing
and forming groups;
 Building the capacities and supporting the activities
of local exporters of R&T products;
 Supporting micro- and small entrepreneurs in the R&T
chain through specialist enterprise advisers;
 Taking advantage of the dynamics created in the
field schools, market committees and other actors’
groups to continue structuring the interprofessional
organization for the R&T chain.
Thank you