Ebolowa SAFE project : Kumba Poised to Host Cocoa Transformation Mini-Industry
The City Mayor of Kumba, Greg Mewanu played a vital role in advocating for the establishment of a mini-industry in Kumba as part of the Sustainable Agriculture for Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) project.
His active participation in the planning mission, held in Ebolowa on Tuesday July 23, 2024 and led by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), was instrumental in showcasing Kumba’s suitability for this significant development.
The SAFE project, co-financed by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and part of the Fund for the Promotion of Innovations in the Agricultural and Agri-food Sector (14Ag), is scheduled to commence in October 2024 and run until December 2027 with a budget of up to 4 million euros.
Greg Mewanu highlighted the potential benefits of the mini-industry for Kumba. “One of the most important benefits we are getting home from our partaking in the workshop with GIZ under the SAFE program in Ebolowa is the fact we succeeded in showcasing, selling, and marketing the attractiveness of Kumba to be one of the towns to host the development strive with regards to the establishment of a mini-industry in Kumba for the transformation of cocoa products,” he said.
He compared Kumba’s prospects to Foumban’s, which is expected to host a coffee factory, asserting that Kumba is ideally positioned to be the project’s starting point. “I think that’s a huge package and enough hope that we have come back from Ebolowa to Kumba with,” he added.
Mewanu expressed his belief in the positive impact on the Kumba population, particularly for the youth and women, who will benefit from employment opportunities. “It is not only going to be to the benefit of the Kumba City Council but most especially to the benefit of the Kumba population. Majority in Kumba is a farming population and I am very sure it will help in making better the cocoa market and advantages that cocoa farmers in Kumba and out of Kumba are going to get,” he said.
The City Mayor concluded with a strong sense of optimism, stating, “We are very happy about it, I personally am very very happy about it.”
