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CAMEROON CONTRACT PROJECTS ON AGRICULTURE
Cameroon is currently implementing several major contract- between 2025- 2027 based projects aimed at boosting agricultural productivity, enhancing food security, and reducing reliance on imports. These projects often involve public-private partnerships, international donor funding (World Bank, AfDB, IFAD), and large-scale land allocations, particularly focusing on rice, maize, cocoa, and oil palm.
Here are the key ongoing and recent contract projects on agriculture in Cameroon:
Major Government & International Partner Projects
Emergency Food Crisis Response Project (PULCCA): A $100 million (approx. CFA60 billion) project funded by the World Bank to boost food production and strengthen resilience in the North, Far North, Northwest, Southwest, Adamaoua, and East regions, especially in response to climate shocks and economic instability.
Integrated Agro-Pastoral and Fisheries Import-Substitution Project (Piisah): Focuses on reducing reliance on imports (rice, maize, wheat) by securing 400,000 hectares of land for cultivation.
Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (AVC-DP): Focuses on developing the oil palm, banana, and pineapple sectors, including the construction of 1,000 km of rural roads, warehouses, and markets.
Commodity Value Chain Support Project (PADFA II): A $47 million (approx. CFA28.5 billion) project (2020–2026) aimed at boosting rice and onion production, with plans to build 26 rice warehouses and 28 bioclimatic houses for onions.
Agricultural Production Support Programme (PARPAC): Focuses on supplying fertilizers and improved seeds to boost production of key crops like rice, maize, sorghum, and soybeans.
Sustainable Agriculture and Agroecological Transition (CAFI/FODECC): A $60 million project focused on sustainable cocoa and coffee farming to increase production while combatting deforestation.
Recent Financing and Development Loans (2025)
Cotton and Soybean Project: A loan agreement of CFA 66.9 billion was authorized to support the procurement of agricultural inputs and the marketing of cotton and soybeans.
Rice Production Expansion: A 15 billion CFA initiative to boost rice production in Yagoua, Ndop, and Nanga-Eboko, aimed at cutting imports by $50 million.
Rural Market Infrastructure: The Agricultural Infrastructure and Value Chain Development Project (AIVDP) includes contracts for the construction of 30 rural markets, particularly in the South West region.
Focus Areas and Key Players
Target Regions: The Far North and North regions are primary targets due to high food insecurity, while the Southwest and Northwest regions focus on value chain development for cash crops (cocoa, palm).
Key Actors: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MINADER), FAO, World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and OCP Africa.
Land Management: The government has secured 400,000 hectares in the Yoko-Lena-Tibati corridor to attract private investors.
Contractual Compliance (OHADA)
Commercial agreements in the sector must adhere to OHADA law, ensuring that supply agreements, input procurement, and distribution contracts are standardized. Key considerations include force majeure clauses for climate risks and compliance with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards for land acquisitions.
ENERGY SECTOR PROJECTS IN CAMEROON
Biogas and biomass projects in Cameroon are increasingly focusing on waste-to-energy initiatives, particularly using agricultural residues and municipal waste to address energy insecurity. Key initiatives include UNIDO-supported projects, private sector investments by Hysacam, and specialized, locally-developed biogas systems.
Key Biogas and Biomass Projects
UNIDO Biomass & Small Hydro Project (2021-2024): A major project aimed at promoting biomass and small hydro for productive uses, involving the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources (MINEE) and the Rural Electrification Agency (AER).
Foyemtcha (West Region): A biogas project integrated into the local palm oil production chain.
Essekou (Littoral Region): A gasification project using palm nut shells to generate electricity for local processing and a mini-grid.
Hysacam Biogas Plant (Yaoundé): A large-scale biogas catchment and treatment plant that processes approximately 1,300 tonnes of garbage daily, contributing to pollution reduction in the capital.
Biogas Technology (Limbe): Initiated in 2022 by entrepreneur Solange Eloe, this project produces biogas from organic waste for cooking and heating, aimed at reducing reliance on wood and fossil fuels.
“Baby Dragon” Biodigester (Various Locations): Developed by Boma Mohammed (EBAFOSA), this model creates small-scale biogas digesters for homes, schools, and restaurants to produce cooking gas and organic fertilizer.
Experimental Biomass Valorisation: Research into using Cameroon’s lignocellulosic waste for energy, with a focus on co-digestion strategies to increase biogas yields.
Potential and Challenges
Potential: The country has a high potential for biogas, with agricultural residues estimated at 415.57 million m³ annually.
The government is working on lunching a $60Million project for the development of Biogas plant systems, from 2025 – 2028.
Local Challenges: Key barriers include a lack of consistent funding, limited technical capacity, and a lack of specific policies to incentivize the sector.
Benefits: These project will contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, managing waste, and providing sustainable energy alternatives for rural and peri-urban areas.
CAMEROON CONTRACT PROJECTS ON BIOMASS
Cameroon is developing biomass projects, including a wood fuel plant in the East and smaller-scale biogas/gasification projects linked to palm oil, supported by government incentives and international partners like UNIDO, focusing on creating energy from organic waste for rural electrification and industrial use, with key companies like BiomassCameroon and Compagnie Générale des Granules pioneering industrial-scale efforts in wood processing and waste-to-energy.
Key Projects & Initiatives
BiomassCameroon: Planning significant investments in wood chip production for generators, leveraging private investment incentives.
Compagnie Générale des Granules SA: Investing in processing wood waste into biofuels.
UNIDO/GEF Projects: Facilitating small-scale biomass projects, such as biogas in Foyemtcha and gasification in Essekou, integrating with local palm oil processing.
Wood Fuel Plant (East Region): A feasibility study was launched for a plant to process forest biomass sustainably.
Government & Support
Ministry of Industry: Signed agreements with biomass companies, offering investment incentives.
Rural Electrification Agency (AER): Identified 37 sites for biomass energy production, with EU support.
National Investment Company (SNI): Issued calls for expressions of interest for feasibility studies on wood energy plants.
Types of Biomass Focus
Wood Processing: Creating wood chips and pellets for fuel.
Agro-Industrial Waste: Utilizing residues from palm oil and other chains for energy.
Biogas/Gasification: Converting organic matter into usable energy for electricity or cooking.
Opportunities
Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs): The government prioritizes PPPs for energy infrastructure, including biomass.
Rural Electrification: Biomass offers solutions for energy access in areas with high demand, like the North.
Produce fuels in the form of wood chips which can be used in adapted generators. There is the FCfa 40.billion investment that the Cameroon government is planning to carry out in the next months, we learned at the Ministry of Industry, the ministerial department in charge.
Compagnie Générale des Granules SA, another company benefitting from the same law, is planning to invest FCfa 20.billion in the construction of processing units of wood waste into biofuels.
The two projects would enable the creation of slightly over 2000 jobs, we officially learned.
This would be the first two contract projects at the industrial scale in Cameroon, thereby contributing to the promotion of this form of energy production in a situation of deficit in the production of electricity and high price of hydrocarbons.
As a reminder, biomass, which is a method of production of energy through the chemical processing or combustion of organic matter of plant or animal origin, can even produce electricity. In this regard, the Rural Electrification Agency (AER in French) of Cameroon recently undertook a study which identified 37 sites in the country, on which it is possible to produce 37 MW of electricity through biomass, which currently represents barely 1% of the country’s energy mix.
Produce fuels in the form of wood chips which can be used in adapted generators. There is the FCfa 40.billion investment that the Cameroon government is planning to carry out in the next months, we learned at the Ministry of Industry, the ministerial department in charge.
Compagnie Générale des Granules SA, another company benefitting from the same law, is planning to invest FCfa 20.billion in the construction of processing units of wood waste into biofuels.
The two projects would enable the creation of slightly over 2000 jobs, we officially learned.
This would be the first two contract projects at the industrial scale in Cameroon, thereby contributing to the promotion of this form of energy production in a situation of deficit in the production of electricity and high price of hydrocarbons.
As a reminder, biomass, which is a method of production of energy through the chemical processing or combustion of organic matter of plant or animal origin, can even produce electricity. In this regard, the Rural Electrification Agency (AER in French) of Cameroon recently undertook a study which identified 37 sites in the country, on which it is possible to produce 37 MW of electricity through biomass, which currently represents barely 1% of the country’s energy mix.
Images of Large Scale Irrigation and other farming Contract projects
Nachtigal hydroelectric scheme
A major industrial project at the heart of Cameroon’s sustainable development
Upon its final commissioning in 2025, Nachtigal will be the most powerful hydroelectric plant in Cameroon and will represent a significant asset for the country’s sustainable development. With a capacity of 420 MW, it will cover nearly 30% of Cameroon’s energy needs with clean, available, and inexpensive electricity.
In addition to contributing to reducing carbon emissions and combating climate change, Nachtigal will economically and socially improve the quality of life for local populations, stimulate economic growth, and actively contribute to the country’s development, while achieving savings on fuel purchases and imports.
A Strong Environmental and Social Ambition
Nachtigal carries a strong environmental and social ambition, including:
- An exemplary and responsible social support for impacted communities
- Significant and diverse local economic benefits
- Innovative, long-term actions for environmental preservation
- A commitment to safeguarding the fundamental rights of project workers
- Support for the local economic development of the project’s area of implementation
This ambition fully aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the UN.
Cameroon inaugurates controversial dam despite local dissent
- The inauguration of Cameroon’s Nachtigal dam has boosted the country’s electricity supply.
- The dam’s construction has also led to loss of livelihoods for fishers and sand miners on the Sanaga River around the dam site.
- In 2022, these workers received compensation from the dam, but as the full dimensions of their losses emerge, they say this was inadequate.
YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon — In the village of Ndji, old electrical cables are draped over rickety wooden poles, hanging so low in places, they touch the ground. These makeshift installations provide electricity in this hamlet of about a thousand inhabitants. But Wilfried Eyebe, a local fisherman, explained that this power supply is unreliable. “The voltage is not stable. We’re facing power cuts all the time.”
This concern persists even though Ndji is located close to the Nachtigal hydroelectric dam on the Sanaga River, 65 kilometers (40 miles) northeast of Yaoundé and the new source of around 30% of Cameroon’s electricity production.
Hydroelectric power: Essential for Cameroon’s energy supply
Hydroelectric power plays a vital role in Cameroon’s electricity grid and economy. It is a renewable energy source with a far lower carbon footprint than fossil fuels. Since March 2025, 420 megawatts of power generated by the $1.3 billion dam at Nachtigal has been fed into the Southern Interconnected Grid (RIS in French) which serves seven of Cameroon’s 10 regions with power produced by hydropower plants at Edea (267 MW, commissioned in 1954), Songloulou (384 MW, 1981), and now Nachtigal.
Power cuts are still a frequent occurrence, though, due to incidents affecting the power transmission network. Numerous disruptions have been recorded recently at the new transformation station on the outskirts of Yaoundé, which enables the onward transport of electricity produced by Nachtigal.
The villages near the dam are not spared power cuts — an issue high amongst complaints raised by the local communities, who are disappointed to not be able to benefit from the massive new facility at their doorstep.
The Nachtigal Hydro Power Company (NHPC) has carried out a number of social projects to directly benefit the affected communities. It has built 40 boreholes to supply villages with drinking water, constructed and fitted classrooms, built a mother-and-child support unit in a medical center in Batchenga, and equipped an emergency room at the Obala District Hospital. It also claims responsibility for providing electricity to local schools, benefiting more than 1,000 children, and last but not least, it has supported farmers with agricultural inputs.
But the construction of the dam has disrupted aquatic ecosystems and access to some stretches of the river, leading to a loss of income for residents. And in Ndji, as in most of the villages near the dam, the main fuel source remains wood from surrounding forests, primarily used for cooking.
Loss of livelihoods and inadequate compensation
In 2022, the communities affected by the project filed a complaint against NHPC with the funders, who requested mediation. At the end of May 2024, NHPC and the communities signed a full and final settlement agreement of their disputes, and agreed to keep the agreement confidential.
But since then, dissatisfaction with the resolution has emerged over several issues.
“They made a lot of promises that haven’t been kept. They talked about restoring our existing livelihoods, promising to restore everything we had before, but today, that’s still not the case,” said Bruno Bikele Ambomo, chief of Olembé village and spokesperson for sand miners at Batchenga, in an interview with Mongabay.
“They paid us six months of compensation, amounting to 6.6 million CFA francs [$11,800], yet they will operate the dam for 35 years. It’s a scam (…)! In Batchenga, we had 22 sand quarries, but not a single representative from these quarries got a subcontracting agreement for the dam’s construction. Our children have degrees but cannot find employment as managers at NHPC. We don’t benefit from the dam at all,” said Ambomo.
Fishers around the dam also fear losing their main source of income for good. Since the start of construction in 2019, each fisher has been paid the equivalent of $44,600 in compensation, but with fish stocks established in the reservoir by the NHPC growing ever scarcer, they plan to demand more.
“We’ve already received two tranches of financial compensation, but the amounts were pitiful,” said Wilfried Eyebe, coordinator of the Fishermen’s Association of Nkol-Ndji and Batchenga (APEN.NBA in French) who has been centrally involved in the conflict-resolution process between communities and the dam operator.
“Once it becomes completely clear that the fishing action plan is hopeless, we will reconvene to demand further compensation,” he told Mongabay.
An independent review carried out in response to complaints made to one of the project’s funders, the European Investment Bank (EIB), found that the Nachtigal project had “minimal impact on the hydrology upstream of the Sanaga River” but Batchenga’s fishers insist that there is now a lack of fish both above the dam and in a designated “green zone” downstream of the dam where fishing is permitted.
IFI Synergy, a platform of Cameroonian civil society organizations, helped and communities file their complaint in 2022 and has supported them as the mediation process unfolded. Danielle Mba, IFI Synergy’s coordinator, said the mediation did not adequately address the fishers’ concerns.
“The situation with the fishermen is a case that was more or less disregarded from the mediation process, to be solved separately. But the communities accepted this. We would’ve hoped that all the issues that were brought up in the complaint would have been addressed during the mediation. When we filed the complaint, the fishing action plan was not yet available, and NHPC took advantage of this to separate the fishers’ and fishmongers’ problems out from the other issues, claiming it was worthy of special attention,” said Mba.
Did funders respect their sustainability principles?
The EIB, one of the financial partners of the project, maintains that its standards in terms of mitigating environmental and social impact were respected in the Nachtigal project. It states that it ensured that its client, NHPC, implemented a resettlement action plan, a fisheries management plan and a livelihood restoration plan — approved by all funders — and also provided a grievance mechanism for anyone who felt their concerns were not properly addressed.
“If a stakeholder has information or is concerned by the fact that EIB standards have not been respected for a specific project, they can report it via the grievance mechanism of the borrower and/or the EIB,” a spokesperson for the bank told Mongabay by email.
Speaking for the World Bank, the other major financial backer of the project, Caitlin Berczik, the bank’s head of external affairs for West and Central Africa, told Mongabay in an email that the lender closely monitors all incidents around projects that it finances, in collaboration with the implementing agencies, in this case, NHPC.
Banner image: Alain, a fisherman from Ndji photographed here in 2022, believes that the lack of fish in a previously productive part of the river is due to the dam’s construction preventing fish from migrating in the river. Image by Yannick Kenné/Mongabay.
