By Noela EBOB BISONG

The framework agreement signed Tuesday, April 29, between the Cameroon Development Corporation CDC and the National Observatory on Climate Change ONACC, has been echoed as a major step to boost the production output of the agro-industrial giant.

The five-year agreement, signed in the board room of the CDC in Limbe, has as main objective to help CDC in greening and optimising the resilience of its activities to climate shocks.

According to the framework agreement, the domains of collaboration between the two entities include amongst others; monitoring of climate and its impact in areas where CDC operates, monitoring emissions and absorbing of Green House Gases related to CDC’s activities, exchange of climate data, information and services, strengthening the technological and material capacities of the two parties, carryout research and studies, as well as engage projects eligible to climate financing windows etc.

In terms of duties, ONACC is expected to among other things, produce and share specific and useful agro-climatological services with CDC and assist the latter assess economic cost of impacts of climate shocks as well as set up a reliable agricultural index insurance system. On its part, the CDC will share climate data from all observation networks and also share agro-production data and information in its areas of operation.

The non-exclusive partnership is said to be a win-win for both parties. While the CDC benefits credible information on the timing of its activities, ONACC on its part will benefit data obtained through CDC’s meteorological stations.

According to the board chair of ONACC, Enoh Peter Ayuk, he said, “At the end of the day, we think CDC will be able to improve its productivity, its income and most importantly resilience in its operations, taking into account the input which ONACC will be bringing in… There’s a lot that will be coming on board that the two institutions will be able to partner and have  long-term activities within the five years”, the board chair maintained, urging other institutions with similar operations to copy the step taken by CDC.

Corroborating the board chair, ONACC’s Director General, Amougou Joseph Armaty said, “Climate Change is a reality. Across Cameroon, we see that the quantity of annual precipitation is declining; the average number of days of precipitation distribution in terms of time and space in the quantity of precipitation is changing everyday… the date of the beginning of the rainy season and the end are constantly changing. Agriculture depends entirely on these conditions, therefore, we are trying to find solutions to these constant changes so as to know when to plant, apply pesticides etc.”

Speaking at the ceremony, the General Manager of CDC, Franklin Ngoni Njie said the move was a realisation of a long cherished vision, as it plays a significant role in adapting and mitigating adverse impacts of Climate Change in the agriculture sector. While expounding on the adverse effects of CDC’s crops (banana, oil palm and rubber) as a result of Climate Change, Njie noted that “It is of interest for us to understand that extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts, heavy rainfall and changes in precipitation patterns directly affect crop growth.” While noting the importance of the agriculture sector to the economy of Cameroon (which contributes 35% GDP and 70% national labour force), Njie said, “This partnership is of prime importance in our area of activity… In CDC, we know that when we have to plant, we start planting in April but these days, the way the weather behaves, there’s no guarantee that in April there will be adequate rainfall for planting (such level of rain could come in March, June etc). So, the information we can get through this partnership will be very helpful. Such will help decision-making that will help us to do the right thing at the right time and this will in turn save cost.”

The details of the partnership framework was presented by the assistant General Manager of ONACC, Forghab Patrick Mbomba, before being signed by Franklin Njie on behalf of CDC and Amougou Joseph for ONACC, in the presence of top officials of both establishments.

The second employer after the state, CDC, with a current staff strength of about 12,000 presently operates in the Moungo division (Littoral region) and Fako, Meme, Kupe Muanenguba and Ndian divisions (South West region). The Corporation came into existence in 1947 and focuses on the development of tropical crops notably oil palm, rubber and banana.

The National Observatory on Climate Change was created in 2009, went operational in 2015 and was reorganised in 2019. It has as mission to monitor and assess socio-economic and environmental impacts of Climate Change and to propose prevention mitigation and adaptation measures to deal with the negative, harmful effects and risks associated with Climate Climate.