(Business in Cameroon) – The Cameroonian government has secured 200,000 hectares of land in the Yoko-Lena-Tibati corridor, which stretches between the Central and Adamaoua regions. The goal is to attract investors and boost local agricultural production. The Minister Delegate to the Minister of Economy, Paul Tasong, shared this information during the 2025 state budget defense before the National Assembly’s Finance Committee. He also mentioned that an additional 200,000 hectares are being secured, bringing the total to 400,000 hectares.
This initiative is part of the Integrated Agro-Pastoral and Fisheries Import-Substitution Project (Piisah), which aims to increase local production of key crops such as rice, maize, and wheat. Cameroon seeks through this project to reduce its reliance on cereal imports, particularly rice and wheat, which weigh heavily on the cost of food imports. In 2023, for instance, Cameroon used CFA387.7 billion to import cereals, with CFA200.8 billion spent on rice and CFA178.3 billion on wheat for bread production, one of the country’s most consumed foods.
The government hopes that by securing 400,000 hectares of land, they will reduce these import costs by boosting local agricultural output. “90% of our production comes from family farms. But today, with the growing population, demand from agro-industries, livestock, aquaculture, and poultry farming, we need to scale up,” said Gabriel Mbairobe, the Minister of Agriculture. “This requires promoting medium and large farms with high yields and productivity. To attract private investors into agriculture, we needed to unlock land reserves.”
Despite efforts to promote import substitution, Cameroon faces significant production deficits in most agricultural sectors. One of the challenges is land disputes between agro-industrial developers and local communities, often supported by environmental NGOs. A notable example is the cancellation of a 2016 agreement that set aside more than 66,000 hectares in the Vallée du Ntem in the South region. The cancellation followed protests from locals over a lease of 26,000 hectares given to Neo Industry, which intended to develop cocoa farms for processing at its Kekém factory in the West region.
