SOWEDA donates crop, livestock production kits to vulnerable people in Fako.

The beneficiary farmers selected from Limbe III, Muyuka and Tiko Subdivisions, received the equipment on Friday, May 9, 2025, at Tiko Council.

The Emergency Response Project to Combat Food Crisis in Cameroon is an initiative of the government with the technical and financial support of the World Bank to combat food insecurity in the Adamawa, East, Far North, North, North West, and South West regions.

SOWEDA has a protocol agreement with PULCCA to implement component two of the project, bearing on strengthening the productive capacities of smallholders through crop and livestock support for climate and nutritional resilience.

The partnership runs from 2023 to 2025 with a global cost of 3,184,733,115 FCFA in sixteen Subdivisions in five Divisions of the Region. 

The Divisions where vulnerable persons will be selected from are Fako Division with Limbe 3, Muyuka, and Tiko to benefit; Lebialem Division with Alou and Wabane Subdivisions; Manyu Division with Eyumojock, Mamfe Central, Tinto, and Akwaya Subdivisions to benefit; Meme Division with Konye and Mbonge Subdivisions; and Ndian Division with Bamusso, Dikome Balue, Ekondo-Titi, Idabato, and Kombo Itindi Subdivisions.

Success story this far

Since 2024, the partnership between SOWEDA and PULCCA has identified some 7,750 vulnerable persons from an established database, with 5,800 targeted for effective distribution of various kits. 

This followed with the distribution of crop and livestock production kits, including 3,985,000 cassava cuttings to over 1,594 beneficiaries; 2,170kg of bio stimulant fertilizers; 797 kg of Trichoderma fungicide, and 1,196litres of humic plus to 797 beneficiaries, 5,580 kg of maize seeds to more than 465 beneficiaries, of which 279 were women.

Addressing stakeholders during the donation exercise, Woulsou Jacques, the Inspector General at the South West Governor’s office, representing Governor Benard Okalia Bilai, said the PULCCA project was government’s response to the dire needs of the population. He promised beneficiaries and donors the continuous support of the State to ensure the success of the initiatives.

Dr Mbaku Louis Mbawa, an Animal Production Expert with PULCCA, said the donation was a reaffirmation of the collective commitment of all stakeholders to food security, economic development, and improving the lives of farmers.

He assured the population that the process of identifying beneficiaries was open and transparent, adding that the distribution would be done fairly and equitably.

Dr Mbawa further ensured all deserving farmers, especially smallholder farmers, cooperatives, and vulnerable groups that they will receive the necessary support to enhance their production. 

He encouraged farmers to ensure the optimum use of the inputs. Dr Mbawa called on the Regional Delegations of the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development and Livestock, Fisheries, and Animal Husbandry to monitor the evaluation mechanism using their services at the base to effectively track and report the outcome of the inputs delivered to farmers to improve their productivity and production.

PULCCA was a response to socio-political crisis, manifested by multiple assaults by the Boko Haram sect in the Far North and North, and by separatists in the North West and South West, and refugee crisis in the East, leading to massive population displacements and the consequent abandonment of economic activities in both crop and livestock sub sectors in these regions. 

The Director General of SOWEDA said the partnership between the two institutions was a win-win relationship for the interest of vulnerable farmers of the South West Region. 

He encouraged beneficiaries to put to good use the items to generate the intended economic growth for the individual beneficiaries and for the nation at large.

Speaking to the press after the ceremony, Dr Besong Ntui Orgork, Director General of SOWEDA, revealed that the physical execution of the project was just over 55%. 

However, he promised that the SOWEDA would be able to fulfill all its obligations in the partnership to improve the livelihood of the population.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3446 of Monday May 12, 2025