South West: PIDMA Reviews Assisted Cassava,Maize Projects

An evaluation team went to Ikiliwindi in Meme and Buea in Fako Divisions recently

A delegation from the Agricultural Investment and Market Development Project (PIDMA) and the World Bank has visited their sponsored projects in Meme and Fako Divisions of the South West Region. Led by Sene Emmanuel, Task Team Leader of the PIDMA-World Bank Project, and accompanied by Alexandra Celestin, Senior Investment Officer of the International Financial Commission (IFC), the delegation spent the early hours of April 20, 2017, on the farm run by the Ikiliwindi Farmers’ Roots and Tubers Cooperative near Kumba. There, the delegation was impressed by the 22 tons of cassava produced per hectare of land.
The production had just grown from an initial 10 tons per hectare thanks to improved inputs like seedlings or cuttings, modern farming, timely fertilizers and coordinated labour. The Ikiliwindi Cooperative has already cultivated 32 of their 40 hectares of land space thanks to PIDMA technical and financial assistance of FCFA 200 million from some FCFA 339 million initially agreed.
Responding to Chi Elizabeth epse Ngoh, President of the 100-member Ikiliwindi cassava Cooperative, the expert from PIDMA underscored the purpose of their sponsorship, which is to render farming groups self-sustainable. This means that the farmers must operate in such a way as to obtain local loans from financial institutions, raise their production, process it locally and find a good market for their products.
The second stop-over still on April 20, afternoon was at the 140-member Buea Maize Cooperative (BUMACOOP) in Fako Division where their President, ...