(Business in Cameroon) - During a press conference held in Yaoundé on April 16, 2024, Cameroon's Minister of Commerce announced that the government plans to distribute a total of CFA2 billion in quality bonuses to cocoa producers for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons. Registration of eligible producers, which began today in the cocoa-producing regions, will conclude on August 30, 2024. The distribution of the bonuses is scheduled between October 15 and December 15, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana specified.

This third round of quality bonus distributions raises the total funds provided to quality cocoa producers by the government to CFA5 billion since the 2017-2018 campaign. The announcement comes at a particularly successful time for Cameroonian cocoa, as noted by the Minister. "This happens in a uniquely favorable context that places our country among the global elite in cocoa production, with record producer prices reaching CFA5,300 per kilogram and recognition from the global cocoa organization as a producer of fine quality cocoa," Minister Atangana remarked.

Introduced by public authorities during the 2016-2017 campaign, the quality bonus aims to meet increasingly stringent international market standards and support producers facing an unpredictable market with fluctuating prices. Only producers who market Grade I cocoa (of good quality) are eligible for the bonus.

This incentive, part of Cameroon's decade-long effort to enhance the quality of its cocoa beans and thus avoid substantial discounts on the international market, appears to be effective. According to a report by the National Cocoa and Coffee Office (ONCC) for the 2020-2021 cocoa campaign, Cameroon recorded the highest volume of beans submitted for quality control ever, as well as the best percentage of Grade I beans in the past twenty years.