Official ceremony to present the National Action Plan for Sustainable Cocoa in Cameroon 2023-2025
On September 20, 2024, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Gabriel MBAIROBE, chaired the Fourth Ordinary Session of the Sustainable Cocoa Committee in Cameroon. Also present alongside MINADER were the Minister of Trade, the Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, the Managing Directors of NCCB and SODECAO, and representatives of the European Union, FODECC and CICC.
Created by joint decision N°0390/MINADER/MINCOMMERCE/ of November 21, 2022, the mission of the Sustainable Cocoa Committee in Cameroon is to lead consultations with public partners and the private sector involved in the cocoa value chain, with a view to implementing the commitments made by Cameroon in terms of sustainable cocoa production and marketing. It is co-chaired by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Minister of Trade.
The National Cocoa and Coffee Board (NCCB) coordinates the Technical Secretariat of the committee.
The official launch ceremony for the presentation of the National Sustainable Cocoa Action Plan 2023-2025 focused on three main areas: It began with the speech by the Head of the Technical Secretariat, Mr Elvis NGWA, who set the stage for further discussions; thereafter an elaboration of the National Action Plan by the General Manager of the NCCB, Mr Micheal NDOPING and finally the speech by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Gabriel MBAIROBE.
At the start of his speech, Mr. Gabriel MBAIROBE particularly thanked his fellow ministers, Mr. Jules Doret NDONGO and Luc Magloire MBARGA ATANGANA, the former in charge of Forestry and Wildlife and the latter in charge of Trade, for their unwavering support. He also applauded the massive presence of International Organizations, such as the European Union, which is helping Cameroon to modernize its agricultural practices and produce sustainable cocoa without deforestation.
Thanks to this support, the State of Cameroon has taken steps to make our agriculture resilient and sustainable. Hence the creation of a body called the Sustainable Cocoa Committee. The aim is to produce quality cocoa while maintaining our healthy ecosystems, and guaranteeing a bright future. “Global Threat, Global Response. I still believe that the threat can only be overcome by International and National Mobilization. I therefore encourage everyone to continue their efforts to ensure that cocoa not only develops, but also benefits cocoa farmers and their communities, hence fair remuneration”, declared the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The Minister of Trade, Mr. Luc Magloire MBARGA ATANGANA spoke at length about fair remuneration. For him, producer remuneration should be commensurate with their work and, above all, with the quality of the cocoa produced. He proposed that the management of producer remuneration be integrated into the national action plan in order to put in place actions that will enable the transition from a decent income to a fair income.
After the official ceremony, the fourth session of the Sustainable Cocoa Committee got into a working session. Four items were on the agenda:
- Examination and adoption of the communication plan;
- Discussion of the state of readiness of the EUDR, and the mobilization of resources to accelerate the implementation of the action plan;
- Alignment with the committee's 2023-2025 national action plan progress monitoring and reporting process;
- Presentation of the committee's work plan.