Cameroon to ban rice import

The Cameroonian govern ment will in the next few day s ban the import of rice to encourage local production, Cameroonian Trade Minist e r, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, said on Friday. He noted that Cameroon imports 500,000 tons of rice every year from Asian countries valued at 100 billion FCFA. In addition, 100,000 tons of rice are smuggled into neighbouring countries, which causes an important loss of foreign currency for the country. To meet the rice self-sufficiency challenge, the minister urged economic operators to become rice farmers so as to create, at the same time, job opportunities and bridge the unemployment gap. 'The government is involved in a land retrieval process to implement agricultural projects and all those who will come to Cameroon for rice farming will have their own plots," he said.