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Table 4.2 Public and semi-public institutions in the agricultural, forestry and fish farming sectors
Mission for the development of small-scale sea fishing

4.10. Seed is imported by private operators. The seed subsector is, however, regulated under the Convention on Biological Diversity, which Cameroon has signed. A prior declaration is required for any seed-related activity in order to ensure that the import, production and marketing of seeds comply with the criteria defined in specifications determined in a joint order by the Ministers responsible for agriculture and trade.

4.12. This new policy includes a component devoted to reform of the land tenure regime. According to the authorities, this will replace the system of State land concessions currently given to foreign investors for a specified period. These concession contracts are signed with MINDAF. At present, they provide for renting land under a lease (sections 2.4 and 4.1.2.3), which is the only way for foreigners to gain access to land for farming. The need for foreign investors to respect the environmental and social provisions in Cameroon's legislation has been emphasized.

4.1.2.3 Palm oil
4.27. Cameroon is currently still a net importer of palm oil. This could soon change: according to the NGO Oakland Institute, in 2009 the American firm Herakles signed a 99-year leasing agreement with the Cameroonian Government for 70,000 hectares of land in the South-West in order to grow palms and produce unrefined and refined palm oil. Several environmental groups have protested about this project, considering that the Government is not respecting the social and environmental criteria provided by law in this project, in particular, consultation of the communities concerned and obtaining their agreement, protection of forested zones with high conservation value, integration of small planters and producers into these intensive farming projects or securitization of land tenure.

4.48. MINEPIA defines and implements government policy on fishing and fish farming. (...). Any (natural or legal) person wishing to exploit fisheries resources industrially must obtain a licence issued by MINEPIA. Foreign vessels may only obtain such a licence and engage in fishing if an agreement has been signed between their country and Cameroon. Cameroon has signed such an agreement with Senegal, but it is not implemented.

4.1. (...)As the FAO has identified, Cameroon's forests harbour numerous nuts, edible mushrooms and fruit, as well as herbs, spices and condiments, aromatic plants, fibre used for building, furniture, clothing or utensils, resins, gums and other plant products. Iboga, for example, looks promising for combating drug abuse ; prunus Africana (also called Pygeum or Kirah), a wood exported for the equivalent of over EUR 1 billion annually, has properties to combat prostate hyperplasia. The unexploited potential is vast.

4.53. The Ministry of Forests and Fauna (MINFOF) is the government institution responsible for the forestry sector. The 1994 Forestry, Fauna and Fisheries Law still governs, inter alia, the granting of logging rights, royalties and taxes on forestry activities, and the regime for the export of forest products. The other legal texts defining criteria for forestry sector activities concern, among other things, environmental protection and sustainable forest management. The former National Forestry Development Office (ONADEF) was reorganized and became the National Forest Development Agency (ANAFOR), which is responsible for providing support to individuals and communities for creating forest plantations.

4.54. Aware of the serious degradation of its forest assets, as well as the fauna living there, through its Ministry of the Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development, since January 2011 Cameroon has been participating in the project Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), whose implementation is planned between January 2013 and December 2015. This project comprises a regional dimension involving the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC), which is the umbrella institution for the Congo Basin forests. The objective of the Organization for the Conservation of Wild Fauna in Africa (OCFSA) is to protect fauna and combat poaching. Both are based in Yaoundé and suffer from the lack of regular contributions by their members.

4.55. According to the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG), which brings together World Bank officials and outside consultants, the multilateral assistance given to the forestry sector in various countries in the region since 2002 has enabled millions of hectares of threatened forest to be classified as protected areas. In Cameroon, however, external assistance has mainly focused on the management of large export-oriented concessions, while the volume of wood produced by the informal sector has multiplied tenfold and is today equivalent to that of the large concessions, thereby contributing to deforestation and concealed financial chains.

2.3.2 Relations with the European Union (EU)
2.23. (...) In replacement of the trade provisions in the Cotonou Agreement (common report, section 2), on 25 January 2009 Cameroon signed with the EU an "Interim Agreement with a view to an Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Central Africa party, of the other part" (EPA), the Central Africa party comprising Cameroon alone. (...)
2.30. (…). The EPA also includes provisions on forestry governance (section 4.1.4).