As part of the Cameroon Committee, ALFA is committed to the third part of the Franco-European FARM initiative, aimed at responding to the risks of food shortages in Africa, particularly following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. During President Emmanuel Macron's visit to Cameroon, ALFA established a partnership with GICAM, the country's employers, in order to identify agricultural and agri-food projects carried out by Cameroonian entrepreneurs, likely to benefit from technical, commercial or financial partnerships. with French companies. Following a call for projects launched by GICAM, 22 initiatives were selected, covering various areas such as plant and animal production and agri-food processing. ALFA facilitated meetings between project leaders and French companies during 17 webinars between June and September 2023.
However, weaknesses were noted, notably insufficient technical files and a reluctance of project leaders to incur additional costs to structure their project. ALFA plans to provide technical assistance to strengthen and structure projects of real interest, but currently not eligible for funding due to their weaknesses.
At the end of 2023 and in 2024, ALFA plans to present the results of its work to GICAM and the French public authorities, highlighting the insufficient preparation of the selected projects and the need for financial support for their structuring, in partnership with businesses and donors.
