Analysis of Agri-Food Trade Structures
To Promote Agri-Food Trade Networks
In the Islamic Countries
85
To formalize this analysis, Table 22 presents out degree centrality scores for Cameroon over the
last decade, disaggregated by leading product. The analysis shows a limited degree of export
diversification over time in most, but not all, products. Cocoa and chocolate stands out as having
a relatively high number of destination markets, whereas rice exports are strongly concentrated
on relatively nearby African partners. Combining the two tables suggests that network dynamics
vary substantially at a product level: in some cases geography is dominant, in others it is a
combination of geography and trade policy, and particularly for raw materials, foreign derived
demand for inputs plays an important role in shaping trade relations.
Table 22: Out Degree Centrality, Cameroon Main Export Products, 2005-2016.
200
5
200
6
200
7
200
8
200
9
201
0
201
1
201
2
201
3
201
4
201
5
201
6
Rice 2 1 2 2 3 4 6 2 2 5
Vegetables
prepared
12 11 12 12 16 14 18 16 13 15 13 16
Fruit and nuts 15 11 13 18 18 16 17 19 18 21 24 20
Sugar
confectionary
7 3 6 6 9 6 7 8 7 8 8 6
Coffee 21 22 27 32 25 34 28 30 27 26 38 31
Cocoa and
chocolate
21 18 23 24 24 25 23 28 29 27 30 25
Other edible
products
18 16 17 17 23 21 23 20 16 18 17 21
Crude rubber 17 16 22 18 26 27 29 31 28 26 27 23
Cork and wood 60 64 71 68 66 72 73 70 78 64 68 71
Cotton 26 23 27 20 18 22 22 15 16 21 24 17
Source: UN Comtrade.
Composition and Patterns of Agricultural Imports
Cameroon's primary points of import are the European Union which accounts for an estimated
27.7 %, China at 19.4 % and Nigeria at 12.1 %. While Europe remains a primary partner in terms
of imports, its share of Cameroonian trade has been on a steady decline since 2006. This steady
decrease in imports is also evident in Cameroon’s trade with its fellow African nations.40 The
most significant import growths are observed with Cameroon's Asian trade partners. Between
2006 to 2010 Chinese imports increased by 4 % (from 6.3 % of all imports to 10.6 %) and Thai
imports by 1.3 % (from 1.3 % of all imports to 3%).41
In 2005, agriculture was 19.8% of Cameroon's total imports. Agri-food products were 10.7% of
agriculture imports followed by milled or semi-milled rice at 5 %, frozen fish at 2.3 % and
agricultural raw materials at 1.8%. These patterns continued in 2010 as agri-food products
remained the top import, representing 10.2% of all agriculture imports. Frozen fish increased
slightly to 3.2%, as did imports of milled/semi-milled rice to 3.8%. Cameroon’s main raw
agriculture material imports as of 2015 were rice, wheat/meslin, milk and cream.42
40 World Trade Organization. (2018). Member Profiles-Cameroon. Available at:
41 Ibid.
42 World Trade Organization. (2018). Member Information: Trade Profiles. Available at: