Foreign assistance on rice production in the BU community 1965-2022

Abstract

This work examines the evolution and impact of foreign assistance on rice production in the Bu Community. For an innate apprehension, the study begins by presenting the social, economic and political set-up of the area of study, before foreign assistance. It further demostrates that foreign assistance came into Bu through German Technical Asssistance (GTA), emanating from the economic and technical cooperation agreement, signed between Cameroon and West Germany in 1962. It examines how this Cooperation evolved and impacted rice production in Bu, through the Wum Area Development Authority (WADA). It also lays emphasis on the contribution of the Chinese in Tingoh, the advent of the Appui aux Strategies Paysannes de la Professionalisation de L’Agriculture (ASPPA) and Programme d’Appui au Developpement des Filieres Agricoles (PADFA), their impacts, difficulties and way forward. For a successful realisation of the forgoing, data was collated from a wide range of primary and secondary sources, that were confronted and analysed through the qualitative research method. Emphasis was laid on oral sources, obtained through a set of selected informants, among which were both current and ex-workers of the Bu rice cooperative, rice farmers and representatives of PADFA in the North West Region of Cameroon, indigenes of Wum Central and rice farmers at mile 37. After this analysis, we were able to attain the following results: That rice production was timid in Bu before the advent of foreign assistance, because the rice farmers lacked the necessary tools and scientific knowhow needed for its cultivation, making production unproductive, despite the areas‟ favourable geographical and human setting. That foreign assistance enhanced rice production in Bu, leading to an economic and social improvement of the peoples in the area. The study argues that despite enormous challenges, foreign assistance contributed greatly to rice production in Bu. It ends with some recommendations as a way forward.