Analysis of Agri-Food Trade Structures
To Promote Agri-Food Trade Networks
In the Islamic Countries
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tapping into an under-exploited agricultural sector. Addressing these constraints is of particular
importance especially given that the African region accounts for 60% of the world's arable land.
Cameroon's initial steps towards accomplishing these ambitions are operationalized through its
Three-Year Emergency Plan Project (PLANUT), implemented between 2015 and 2017. The
government has allocated the project a total of 925 billion CFAF to be spent in seven areas, with
livestock and agriculture being one of the primary sectors. The agri-food sector is expected to
benefit from monies spent on:
(i) Creating agropoles and installing hydroponic farming facilities covering
approximately 120,000 hectares in the North;
(ii) Building wholesale market centers to facilitate the flow of agricultural products to
urban centers; and
(iii) Constructing slaughterhouses and refrigerated warehouses for meat distribution.
These investments by the Cameroonian government aim to support regional value chains in
edible products of animal origin which are already some key trade flows between Cameroon and
some OIC members in CEMAC.
Cameroon’s collaboration with neighboring OIC members could also entail nurturing trade
practice networks to support agri-food policy reform. Such support could focus on fostering
policy implementation and actions to unlock new investment opportunities. This would entail
facilitating dialogue and networking among multiple stakeholders and across disciplinary fields
on the conceptualization and implementation of agri-food policies.
The support could be provided through coordinated policy reform platforms. Such platforms
would serve as coordinating mechanisms for programs and policies at the national, corridor,
and regional levels. The platforms would aim to promote evidence-informed decisions by
collecting, aggregating and disseminating agri-food information. Such a platform would also
support stakeholder empowerment and consensus building. The platform would therefore
provide a framework for stakeholders to debate, cross-fertilize ideas and to better understand
the consequences of their mode of operation and that of other stakeholders involved in trade.
Ultimately, the platform would enable increased capacity through peer-to-peer learning among
government officials, businesses and civil society.
Conclusions and Lessons Learned
This study reveals Cameroon’s connectivity with other OIC countries occurs in tandem with its
role in Regional Economic Communities (RECs). Chief among these is CEMAC which receives
consistent exports of edible products of animal origin. Barriers impacting trade within CEMAC
include structural similarities such as undiversified production structures; few exports mostly
in the form of natural resources. However, trade between Cameroon and its CEMAC
counterparts is in most cases because of the impacts of informal trade. As expected, Cameroon’s
trade with ECOWAS is much lower than CEMAC. Trade dynamics are affected by the absence of
a preferential trade agreement between the two RECs. Because of these tariff barriers, retailers
and consumers are encouraged to import products from within each economic block, rather
than sourcing them from across the border. Bilateral trade flows between Cameroon and
Nigeria are hindered and this leads to the isolation of border regions in both countries as they
orient their economic activity towards the industrial centres within each economic block. In