Pig farmers in Cameroons’ East Province have been requested to raise at least FCFA 2 million (€3,000) as a precondition for benefiting from government grants.
This was stipulated by the Coordinator of the National Pig Development Programme, Dr. Marcel Casmir Ndongo Kounou. During a recent visit Bertoua he advised leaders of pig farming organisations on how to manage such organisations and on the conditions and procedures for receiving government grants.
The East Province has been allocated FCFA 7 million as grants to pig farmers, but the grants are only allocated to people who first raise funds which “prove that they are serious in what they’re doingâ€. Ndongo stated that to obtain the grant farmers should “show evidence that they can manage in-coming funds transparently and put at the disposal of the confederation, 80 piglets”.
The National Pig Development Programme is financed with funds from HIPC-I under the Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries. With a budget of FCFA 6 billion, the programme envisages stepping up Cameroon’s pig production from 218,000 pigs in 2007 to 400.000 pigs this year to meet with the rising demand for pork.