Production and Commercialisation of Rice in Cameroon: The Semry Project

Between 1967 and 1983, during the high point of World Bank activity in rural development in the Cameroon, the Bank financed 18 agricultural development projects, nearly all of which were oriented towards export crops such as rubber, cocoa and palm oil. Most of the projects were carried out by semi-public corporations and were of an enclave type. The project under consideration here is interesting because it was conceived to serve the internal market. Moreover, it is a development project not a production project. This vast irrigated rice growing project, Semry (Société d’expansion et de modernisation tion de la riziculture de Yagoua), is in fact destined to produce rice for local consumption. For the lending agencies, as for the state of Cameroon, Semry represents one of the rare examples of successful rice farming in Africa.