On the green hills of Ngoumou, cocoa, coffee, banana and pineapple plantations stretch as far as the eye can see. The district in the Centre Region of Cameroon is a rapidly developing agricultural hub and a key supplier to neighbouring markets. The progress has been driven by the Agricultural Value Chain Development Project, officially launched in 2017, which has transformed the lives of thousands of people in Cameroon.
Sylviane Blanche Jouogo is one of the Project's beneficiaries. Previously, she had an uncertain future. Lack of training, poor work management and cultural obstacles to female entrepreneurship saw her unable to realise her ambitions and doubting her own abilities.
"I had a simple but amazing dream: to transform the fruits of the earth into hope for my family and my community. For a long time, this dream seemed out of reach," recalls Sylviane.
Then she joined the Project. Since then, training in techniques for processing pineapples and study of financial management and women's leadership made her dream come true. She felt listened to, supported and valued - for the first time ever. Each training session became an inspiration for the 50-year-old woman.
Sylviane used her new skills to reorganise her business, developing pineapple-based products, and to manage her income more efficiently. Little by little, her family saw the difference: better meals, better educated children and a husband who recognised the value of her efforts.
"Since I've been doing the accounts in my little shop, I've seen where the problems were. Things are better now, and my husband was even surprised that I have got involved in our child's schooling," Sylviane says with a happy smile.
The Agricultural Value Chain Development Project is entirely funded by the African Development Bank to the tune of 89.292 million euros. As stated in the Bank's Report on the Project, which is due to be completed by the end of the year: "Value chain development activities are underway, which include complete upgrading of more than 680 km of rural tracks. This has enabled farmers to access more land, expanding their farms and starting work in new segments, particularly market gardening."
The Project has led to the establishment of 167 cooperatives, 29 of which are run by women. Assistance to farmers has provided planting material for 8,694.5 hectares. Under an agreement with the Agricultural Research Institute for the Development of Cameroon, annual production capacity of pre-germinated oil palm seeds has increased from two million to five million seedlings. Pre-germinated seeds are made available each year to nursery owners and producers for the creation or renewal of oil palm farms. In the pineapple sector, six hectares of seed plots have been set up and are in production and nearly two million offshoots are now being distributed to farmers. Sylviane is among the beneficiaries.
Sylviane is also working to help others succeed by taking more responsibility in her community. She shares her knowledge within her cooperative and through groups of associations, encouraging other women to step up and show that change is possible. Today, there are dozens of women who are keen to make their dreams reality by running a small business and who believe that their voice counts in their community.
"There is still a distance to travel, but I am moving forward with the certainty that no obstacle can stop me," Sylviane says. Her next ambition is to create processing cooperatives, which can help other women and young people to build sustainable and fair agriculture.
Today, Sylviane Blanche Jouogo no longer feels that there are limits to what she can achieve. She knows that every woman has the power to transform her life and that of her community.
