An increasing number of farmers in Oku and other parts of the Bui Division are taking up wheat cultivation as the planting season approaches. Wheat, a staple food in Cameroon, is typically one of the country’s major imports.
The war in Ukraine has created a gap in the wheat supply, prompting many farmers, particularly in Oku, to focus on wheat farming. Last year, Cameroon imported 900,000 metric tonnes of wheat from Russia and Ukraine at a cost of billions of FCFA, while domestic production struggled to meet the high demand.
In Oku, however, farmers are seizing the opportunity to increase production, seeing it as a significant income source. “The planting season is pretty faring well. Thousands of enthusiastic farmers are trooping into our network,” said Basilius Tata, President of the Cameroon Wheat Development Cooperative Society.
Currently, as they await the wheat planting season in July and August, farmers are also cultivating other grains. “We’re about to round up dry land rice and sunflower cultivation for the June rain-irrigated calendar. We are preparing to kick-start July soybean and August wheat planting,” Tata added.
Despite receiving minimal support from the government, farmers hope to boost their yields. “IRAD has donated a quantity of very short-cycled, semi-dwarf-improved varieties (KENIRAD3 and KENIRAD4) for demonstration and multiplication,” Tata noted.
From the last season’s harvest, farmers produced about 1,000 metric tons from 700 hectares of cultivated land. “Low yields resulted from insufficient key inputs like fertilizer due to price hikes (35k per bag of fertilizer), and the fact that many farmers were in their first learning experience,” explained Tata.
Looking ahead, farmers are optimistic about improving their output. “The greatest improvement is that farmers have multiplied their seeds for upcoming upscaling adventures for business and income. There’s a huge market for wheat by ourselves. We’ve got a huge international market for the stems of wheat (5 trillion pieces) in demand, as well as making trails on many wheat derivatives and pastries in view of value addition and marketing,” Tata said.
Additionally, they are developing a master plan for the wheat business in Cameroon and Africa through WECAWHEAT, targeting the west and central Africa subregions. “Some bigger benefactors and investors have started approaching us. The immediate future is promising,” Tata added.
