Bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Cameroon, H.E. Joseph Ngute

Yaoundé - During an official visit to the Republic of Cameroon, FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, met in Yaoundé with His Excellency Joseph Ngute, Prime Minister of the Republic of Cameroon.

The Prime Minister was joined by 11 cabinet ministers in the meeting, together with high-level representatives from other six ministries. At the offset, the Prime Minister conveyed his appreciation to FAO for the support provided to Cameroon, highlighting its importance for Camerron as an agricultural country regarded as the breadbasket of the central Africa region.

The Prime Minister reconfirmed his firm support to Qu’s second term as FAO Director-General, noting that the Four Betters, as set out in the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31, were a guideline for Cameroon in promoting agrifood systems transformation.

The Prime Minister further pointed out that the country’s food security was facing challenges deriving from instability in the region and the global climate crisis, and invited FAO to scale up its efforts in collaborating with both the central and decentralized authorities of the country to ensure no one was left behind in terms of food security.

The Prime Minister appraised the FAO Green City Initiative launched in Cameroon on 21 April 2024 and called for FAO’s constant investment in the Initiative to ensure that it could achieve objectives such as increasing soil fertility to increase food productivity.

The Director-General thanked the Prime Minister for the hospitality and highlighted the large potential of Cameroon in agriculture production by deploying science, technology and innovation. He encouraged the country to leverage FAO’s flagship initiatives such as the Hand in Hand Initiative and One Country One Priority Product to increase visibility of its produce in international markets.

During the meeting, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, of Agriculture and Rural Development, of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries, and of Forestry and Wild Life, provided a brief overview of the status of bilateral cooperation with FAO within their respective areas.