WFP Expert Visits MINRESI

During his stay in Cameroon to establish the Strategic Framework for Food Security and Nutrition, Dr. Amos Namanga Ngongi, World Food programme expert discussed with the Minister of Scientific Research and Innovation on the opportunities to strengthen the extension system of the results of agricultural research in Cameroon. According to him, few agricultural entrepreneurs met on the field use the results of agricultural research though greatly available at the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD), to complete the work coordinated by the Minister of Economy, Planning and regional Development, with financial support from WFP.
Dr. Madeleine Tchuinté, Minister of Scientific Research and Innovation, thinks this claim should be reduced. IRAD's research programmes are primarily geared towards solving identified problems faced by Cameroonian farmers. She added that for research administration, several actions to develop and disseminate research results have been implemented on the field, in continuation of those already conducted by sectoral ministries and meant for widespread, like the case of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MINADER).
Again, she said, such is the case of the concept of farmers' field schools, a new approach to train farmers, with the aim of establishing a public-private partnership to build the capacity of stakeholders in agricultural development. Experimenting this approach enabled the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development to train more than 3,000 agricultural entrepreneurs in the major regions of Cameroon based on a lot of speculation. She concluded that this activity strengthens the strategic option of the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation, to intensify the transfer of research results to the national productive sector and promote innovation.
At the end of the meeting, Dr. Namanga Ngongi returned with a better knowledge of extension and development activities of MINRESI, carried out in addition to his traditional research missions. The available report with the recommendations of the study on the economy of research in Cameroon should shed new light on the national research and innovation system; the Strategic Framework for Food Security and Nutrition to help identify constraints and challenges, and to identify the necessary guidelines for priority actions.