ESSE - Nearly a year after the government pledged to help boost agricultural production, farmers told IRIN they have been “forgotten” by their political leaders. “We have to do what we can to get by, completely on our own,” said Agnès Koa, a farmer in the village of Ebogo, 70km northeast of the capital Yaoundé. “We desperately need financial support and training to move beyond subsistence and be more productive.” Following deadly riots triggered in part by high food and fuel prices, the govt in April 2008 announced an “emergency plan” to reinforce the country’s agricultural sector. The government said in part it would subsidise fertiliser and equipment for farmers.

Photo: Fanny Pigeaud/IRIN Gilles Othon, who does fish farming and breeds poultry in Cameroon, would like to set up a centre to train youths in agriculture  “We have to do what we can to get by, completely on our own,” Agnès Koa, a farmer in the village of Ebogo, 70km northeast of the capital Yaoundé, told IRIN.