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The decision by Cameroon’s stakeholders in the cocoa and coffee sectors to put in place a specialised funding mechanism; call it ‘Cocoa and Coffee Sub-sectors Development Fund,’ where farmers can henceforth access funding to bolster production of the cash crops is obviously a welcome relief. In fact, it is hope-raising given the hurdles actors in the production chain go through to get what to sell to sustain themselves, their families and the national economy. 
It is no secret to anyone that if Cameroon’s annual cocoa production is barely around 257,151 metric tons and coffee at about 22,000 metric tons, blame is largely on producers’ inability to access loans with which to acquire farm inputs and other production-enhancing equipment. Putting at their disposal FCFA 6.2 billion for 2021 as the ‘Cocoa and Coffee Sub-sectors Development Fund,’ suggests is no doubt a boost to their activities. Promising to take the fund to about FCFA 50 billion in five years from now after the trial period is comforting both for those already into the production and sale of the cash crops likewise others still contemplating to embrace them now and thereafter. 
Actually, the decision to put in place the particular funding mechanism for specialised crops like cocoa and coffee is a good step in the right direction. In the absence of an operational bank for agriculture; announced long ago and whose takeoff has witnessed stillbirth, the country’s huge farming population badly needed something to rely on to keep their activities going. In countries where administrations long caught the vision of realistic sustainable growth, each sector has a specialised funding tool on which it trusts to attain set objectives. Allowing everyone to rely on commercial banks whose credit system might not be favourable to all at every moment can only fetch dismal output in quality and quantity.
The move to facilitate access to funds is commendable given that it makes provision for farm inputs like fertilizers, seeds and seedlings, agricultural equipment as well as sup...