To strengthen employment in rural areas and the resilience of production systems to climate change.

Cotton production areas in the Far-North, North and Adamaoua regions

The target group and direct beneficiaries of the ABC project will be small-scale producers, livestock farmers and agro-pastoral entrepreneurs (with an emphasis on women and young people) living in the cotton-producing basin of Cameroon.

Ultimate beneficiaries 

The activities that will be implemented by SODECOTON will affect all the cotton producers. CNPCC has 150,000 members (17% of whom are women).

Eight (8) municipalities will be selected for natural resource management activities. Economic improvements are expected for 42,000 producers, of whom at least 30% shall be women and 30% young people. In a nutshell, around 256,000 people (with their family members) will benefit from the measures. The transfer of the replicable experiences and results achieved by the partners and donors will positively impact the lives of a large proportion of the rural population of the three northern regions (around 6 million people).

GIZ

9,500,000 EUR, or about CFA 6.2 billion francs + a German  co-financing of 6,000,000 EUR

The cotton sub-sector in Cameroon is of paramount importance for the rural development of the North, Far-North and Adamaoua regions of Cameroon. Cotton production is practised by about 160,000 producers brought together under the National Confederation of Cotton Producers of Cameroon (CNPCC). The sub-sector provides direct livelihoods to more than two million people, i.e. 25% of the population of the northern part of the country. The annual quantity of cotton produced is around 300,000 tonnes representing 1.5% of national GDP, 5% of agricultural GDP and 15% of the GDP generated in the northern part of the country. It is a sector with a high development potential and a high export potential. Its development should be carried out taking into account its socio-economic and environmental impacts. 

Supporting the cotton sub-sector also falls in line with the strategy for the recovery and consolidation of peace in the northern and Eastern parts of Cameroon from 2018 to 2020 which was validated in November 2017. This strategy defines a set of priority actions intended to respond to the peace-building challenges faced in these regions. Thematic axis 4 (access to land, livestock and production) emphasises the revamping and improvement of agro-pastoral production and productivity. The specific actions under this component include scaling up the ginning and crushing capacities of SODECOTON’s factories; supporting the professionalisation and development of agro-pastoral entrepreneurship; encouraging investments in the production, processing and marketing of products; and improving access to inputs and production support services.

The action is in line with the communication on the new Africa-Europe alliance for sustainable investment and jobs. In particular for Cameroon, as part of the “Jobs and Growth Compact”, this action is in line with axis 4 which targets the development of value chains with high job creation potential, particularly for young people living in rural areas. Cotton has been identified as a value chain to be retained in this perspective.

The action is also in line with the Green Pact: the communication of December 2019 on ways of mitigating climate challenges and those relating to the environment. In this context, the EU wishes to position itself as a world leader by tackling cross-cutting climatic and environmental issues and by mainstreaming resilience-building objectives. Particularly in the overall strategy with Africa, goals shall be defined in order to move towards a green and circular economy, sustainable energy and food systems, and smart cities.

• Outcome 1: Land security, sustainable land management and prevention of agro-pastoral conflicts are strengthened taking into account the effects of climate change as well as human rights and gender aspects.
• Outcome 2: The use of banks to carry out financial transactions in rural areas, the access of small-scale producers and livestock farmers to funding, and entrepreneurship are strengthened.
• Outcome 3: The productivity and sustainability of the cotton crop, food crops cultivated in rotation and livestock are improved, taking into account the effects of climate change and gender aspects. 
• Outcome 4: The Sectoral policy and inter-institutional dialogue involving the actors of the private sector and civil society are strengthened.