Poultry Production in Cameroon

Policy brief on how Cameroon’s previously introduced import restriction on frozen poultry cuts affects the poultry sector in the country

In 2005 Cameroon started to restrict the import of frozen poultry cuts, making it one of a few African countries with such a restriction in place. Simultaneously, the government installed support programmes to actively promote the domestic poultry sector.

Since then, the domestic poultry sector has been characterized by sustainable growth, especially with regards to hatcheries, feed producers, importers of feed and veterinary products – which have been able to gain a strong foothold in the market. With a market share of 42% of the domestic meat production, the poultry sector has now become an important sector.

EU poultry exports to Africa 2016

Current challenges of the sector

  • High expenses for feed; with a share of 60-70% they are the largest cost factor
  • An insufficient organisation of the actors
  • A lacking cooling infrastructure and missing laboratories for testing and quality control

Options to further increase the competitiveness of the sector

  • Improving the investment conditions (access to loans etc.)
  • Advancing the quality infrastructure
  • Training the stakeholders along the value chain

About the policy brief series

The policy briefs of this series summarize the results of working papers that are relevant to specialist audiences—compiled by the Sector Project Agricultural Trade and Value Chains on behalf of BMZ.