The World Bank has approved a credit on 30 November 2021 from the International Development Association (IDA) in the amount of US$200mn to support Cameroon’s agricultural production in the Valley of Logone, located in the Far North region and being part of the Lake Chad basin
The project Valorisation of Investments in the Valley of the Logone (VIVA Logone),seeks specifically to (i) support regional water security and governance of the water resources, mainly through rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage infrastructure and support to water users associations, (ii) promote agriculture and agribusiness production, and (iii) implement a transformational plan of SEMRY (Société d'expansion et de modernisation de la riziculture de Yagoua) and strengthen public services.
The project will benefit different groups of poor people: farmers, particularly women, by improving their ability to increase irrigation productivity and a likely doubling of cropping intensity; and through infrastructure investments and support for intensifying production, improved irrigation and drainage. In addition, improved flood management, including the early warning system in 300 km, would benefit the residents of the Logone Valley, both in Cameroon and Chad.
A series of factors, ranging from ecological fragility to violence-related insecurity, have forced Cameroon's agricultural sector to low productivity and low-production subsistence agriculture, particularly in the Far North. Irrigation is fundamental to ensure food security and contribute to reducing the risk of conflicts in this Sudano-Sahelian agroecological zone which is the most ecologically fragile and the most vulnerable to climatic shocks.
The project will improve the infrastructure and water management, promote production and support agriculture services while supporting the sector development and implementation of the project.
