Ease Accessibility to Production Zones, Inputs

The wind is blowing to the opposite direction for tomato market and actors in the sector are gnashing their teeth. Not only is the production chain seriously affected, the prices are shooting for the skies. A basket of fresh tomato that initially sold at FCFA 5,000, now sells at not less than FCFA 11,000 indicating a percentage increase of 120. This certainly is throat cutting. The situation is said to be worse in Yaounde where the same quantity initially sold at FCFA 5,000 now goes for at least FCFA 17,000. Housewives are yet to come to terms with this sudden price hike. This is happening at the moment this round, red fruit that contains a lot of seeds, eaten cooked or uncooked as a vegetable has almost become a staple household ingredient.
Producers of the crop are blaming the situation on continuous rain that has been hitting production zones of the West and Adamawa causing tomatoes to get rotten and consequently leading to significant reduction in the quantity supplied in the market. As if that were not enough, access to production areas remains extremely difficult. All these and other factors are responsible for the decaying market situation in the country. Considering the importance of the crop to Cameroonian households, the present situation seriously calls for a rapid solution. One of such is a reduction in the cost of production which experts in the sector accuse of pl...