CAMEROON (25 May)
Satellite imagery indicates that the rainy season started on time in the south, allowing land preparation and sowing of the first 2005 maize crop, due for harvest from July. Planting of coarse grains will progress northwards following the onset of the rains. However, swarms of desert locusts were reported in the extreme north, raising concerns over the food outlook for this part of the country, which is already facing a tight food situation.
National cereal production is estimated to have increased significantly in 2004, according to official sources. However, in the northern regions located in the Sudano-Sahelian zone, dry spells and the poor distribution of rainfall during the growing season resulted in a serious decline in production. High prices are reported in these regions due to low supply of grain.
In a bid to diversify the economy in view of declining oil production, the Government launched recently a five-year campaign to revamp the cocoa sector and boost output to 200 000 tonnes per year. 160 000 tonnes of cocoa were produced in 2003/04 in Cameroon, where between one million and two million people depend directly or indirectly on the cocoa sector.