The state and agricultural policies in Cameroon : the social and economic outcomes of agricultural policies
Authors:   , Ngwainmbi Jilly Mayungli 
Published: January 2025

This study assesses the impact of Cameroonian agricultural policies in the light of: 1) the First and Fifth Five-Year Development Plans; 2) a survey of farmers; and, 3) agricultural policies of the Seventh Plan. It focuses mainly on a comparative analysis of the First and Fifth Plans with the primary objective of finding out if policy goals and objectives were met and if not why. To achieve this objective the Action System approach to policy analysis was used together with the following three criteria: 1) comparing projected production targets with actual production; 2) comparing projected growth rates with actual growth rates; and, 3) assessing the social outcomes of policies with regard to the agricultural population in particular and the society at large. The analysis focused primarily on the third criterion which constitutes the core of the study. The main findings were: 1) the Cameroonian State was and is still instrumental in the articulation of noncapitalist modes and relations of production with the capitalist economy, 2) the policy goals and objectives of the First and Fifth Plans were found to be different from those of farmers, 3) the policy goals and objectives of the First and Fifth plans were deeply rooted in colonial agricultural policies with export-oriented agriculture being the main driving force; 4) there were no striking fundamental or substantive differences between policy goals and objectives of the First and the Fifth Plans; 5) although many of the agricultural policy goals and objectives of both plans were not met, agriculture generated a significant amount of wealth which was not equitably distributed among the population thus exacerbating income differences between the rich and the poor; 6) agricultural policies tended to contribute significantly to the acceleration of the process of social differentiation begun during colonization, especially with respect to rural and agricultural populations; 7) although Cameroonian agriculture, peasantry, and economy have been integrated into the global capitalist system through the pivotal role of the Cameroonian state, there still exist different forms of social organization of production, relations of production and social forces that play a significant role in bringing about social change within the Cameroonian society; and, 8) Cameroonians were relatively better off with regard to food availability and security at the end of the First Plan than they were at the end of the Fifth Plan. An overall assessment of Cameroonian agricultural policies indicated that the progress made in agriculture notwithstanding, Cameroonian agricultural policies need a shift from emphasis on export-oriented agriculture to emphasis on a combination of food crops and "traditional" export crops. This shift would serve two important purposes: 1) make food self-sufficiency and food security a reality; and, 2) help diversify export crops and open up new trading avenues and markets for Cameroonian export crops all over the world in general and within Africa in particular. It is, hopefully, on the basis of these two accomplishments and the commitment of the policy makers to an eguitable distribution of wealth generated by agriculture that the social, economic and political stability and security of Cameroon would be ensured.