Lukong Pius Nyuylime
30 December 2003
Latest report says its potentials can make Cameroon more competitive in the international market.
The contribution of the forestry sector to Cameroon's economy is significant. The latest report on the competitiveness of the Cameroonian economy describes the role of the sector in very simple terms; "its contribution is important by virtue of its direct and indirect fallouts." The report is the result of a study on the diagnosis of the competitive nature of Cameroon's economy realised by the Technical Secretariat of the Committee on Competitiveness in partnership with the CRETES cabinet and James Bannet, an international consultant. It has been carried out within the framework of the fight against poverty, a strategy which challenges the Cameroonian economy and particularly the private sector already identified as the major axis on which riches and employment could be created.
On the basis of its enormous contribution to the economy, the report gives serious consideration to the forestry sector which possesses rich potentials for making the economy more competitive within and without the country. The considerations are based on the following; one, wood constitutes the second export products after crude oil, two, in 1992 and 1997 both transformed and untransformed wood represented 30 per cent of total exports outside oil, three, during the same period, the forestry sector contributed 8.3 pert cent of internal revenue, four, the sector employed 35,380 people in 1996/97 representing 0.8 per cent of total employment.
The sector is also hailed for playing the following role in the economy; one, contributing to the amelioration of the road infrastructure especially in enclave areas, two, reinforcing banking and insurance businesses, three, supplying wood to the numerous carpentry and furniture workshops nationwide known to have provided jobs to more than 20,000 people, four, providing non timber forest products such as medicinal plants, vegetables, wild fruits, spices, etc that have undergone spectacular development, five, supplying fuel wood as an important energy source for a greater majority of the population.
Since 1992, activities in the forestry sector have improved tremendously. Between 1992 and 1997, Cameroon produced about2, 695 million cubic metres of timber with an annual growth rate of 13 per cent. About 44 per cent of this output was exported and 44 per cent either consumed by transformation industries of stocked. In 2001/2002, however, timber production dropped to 2.07 million cubic metres.
In 1996/97, Cameroon exported 1,928,841 cubic metres of wood. Iroko, sapelli, ayous, are some of the major wood species exported. The species represent more than 75 per cent of timber export. However, for the past few years, lower quality species have made in-roots in the export market particularly in Asia. The potentials of Cameroon's forest hinge on its timber estimated at 600 exploitable species. Today, only 300 of these species are commercialised with more than 60 constituting regular exports.
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