Cameroon to boost banana, plantain production through partnership with Nigeria-Xinhua

Cameroon to boost banana, plantain production through partnership with Nigeria

Source: Xinhua| 2022-08-10 20:59:15|Editor: huaxia

YAOUNDE, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Cameroonian and Nigerian producers of banana and plantain have agreed to collaborate to boost the production of the crops in the Central African nation.

The agreement was reached on Tuesday in Cameroon's capital Yaounde after the producers met with the country's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Gabriel Mbairobe.

"We are pleased that today actors in the banana and plantain sectors are beginning to find ways to transform the sector," Mbairobe told reporters after the meeting.

"Nigeria is a big African economy with a huge population and Cameroon, a great agricultural country can feed this population. We will revamp the local economy and increase employment," said Albert Agha Ngwana who led the Nigerian delegation.

Banana is Cameroon's third largest export product behind oil and wood, but the country was working to ensure that it becomes the first export product by 2025, said Samuel Tony Obam Bikoue, representative of a local agroforestry cooperative who welcomed the Nigerian delegation to Cameroon.

Cameroon exported 13,203 tons of bananas in July, representing an increase of around 6 percent year on year, according to statistics published by the Banana Association of Cameroon.

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