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Cameroon’s government has signed an agreement with Israeli company Ekobell to develop 10,000 hectares of rainfed rice farming in the country’s northern regions.

Valued at €150 million (about CFA98.4 billion), the project aims to expand national rice production and strengthen the sector in northern Cameroon.

According to project projections, the program will run over three years and produce 46,700 tons of paddy rice, equivalent to 31,289 tons of milled rice. Once operational, this output would represent about 18% of Cameroon’s current production of high-quality milled rice.

The farmland will be distributed across several locations, including Sirdjam and Pola in the North region, as well as Mbé in the Adamaoua region.

The initiative is expected to involve about 8,000 farmers and generate additional indirect jobs in agricultural production, logistics, and rice processing activities.

The project builds on technical studies conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) with funding from the African Development Bank (AfDB). These studies were carried out under a program aimed at improving the use of water resources for agriculture, livestock, and fisheries in the Far North region.

The initiative aligns with Cameroon’s broader goal of significantly increasing domestic rice production.

According to the country’s Medium-Term Economic and Budget Programming Document for 2025–2027, Cameroon plans to triple rice output, raising production from 140,710 tons in 2024 to about 460,000 tons in 2027.

Achieving that target would mark a major step toward the longer-term objective of 750,000 tons by 2030, equivalent to an estimated 97% self-sufficiency rate.

This ambition forms part of the national rice sector development strategy, which has a total estimated budget of CFA385 billion.

Despite these investments and ongoing projects, domestic production is still expected to fall short of national demand. Rice consumption—already estimated at 576,949 tons in 2020—continues to rise due to population growth and changing dietary habits.

Source : businessincameroon