“North West Region occupies second position in Beef Cattle in Cameroon”

 - Regional Delegate for Livestock and Fishery, NW

Dr. Atanga Heinendez, the Regional Delegate for Livestock and Fishery in the North West has said the Region now occupies the second position in Cameroon in the domain of Beef Cattle. This fact was disclosed recently in a press briefing in his Bamenda office in the wake of the launch of the annual mass vaccination programme in the Region. 

Dr. Atanga Heinendez

The Region he said had over 500.000 cattle and that thanks to the Heifer project the Region had the highest daily production. He further said that in Poultry the NW Region was in second position after the West Region which occupies first position in the country. Every Division in the Region he said had its own specifics. “When you talk of cattle then its Donga Mantung, Bui and Boyo Divisions. When you talk of poultry and pigs then its Mezam and Ngoketunjia. In Aqua culture we are a little behind but we are doing well and this activity is concentrated around Mezam, Boyo and Ngoketunjia. When we talk of fish harvest it is of course Ngoketunjia with the Bambalang fish.”

The Ministry he said, first of all had the moral obligation of making sure that good quality meat was available to the people. The Delegate put it forth in the following manner: “To realise its objectives the Ministry has put in place extension services. For continuous training, projects are regularly put in place like ACEFA to follow up the farmers designed production process. We also have PNVIA which permits farmers to be taught modern techniques of production. The most recent that we have is LIFIDEP; Livestock and Fishery Development Project which is funded by the Islamic Development Bank. This project provides infrastructure and other accessories to make sure that Livestock and Fishery activities in the North West are at their utmost.

Furthermore he said annual mass vaccination was another initiative subsidized by the Government to make vaccines available at highly subsidized rates. Traditional practices he said do not permit for maximum production so the government has production farms at Kounden in the West Region which are specialised Livestock Stations for pigs from where highly improved grades of pigs are churned out for farmers. At 6 months, these improved species can weigh a hundred Kilograms.

On a positive note the Regional Delegate said he could not say that he was satisfied with success so far achieved because success is a journey. “We are on the right track getting there though we are not yet there. "The Ministry has put in place so many things for the population of the North West Region to benefit from. We have the veterinary School in Jakiri that trains technicians. We have the AFOP Programme and Training Centre at Ku-Bome in Mbengwi; an Aqua Culture Station used for the training of youths. There is the Nazareth Centre in Bamenda and the PRTC Nfonta, Bambui in the Tubah Municipality. Those graduating write projects and these projects are funded to help them settle.” 

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