CDC left 14,300 hectares of mature plantations idle in 2025 ⁰

The Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), the country’s second-largest employer after the state, was unable to exploit a significant share of its agricultural assets in 2025. According to the company’s financial statements, 14,349 hectares of mature oil palm and rubber plantations remained unexploited during the year, significantly affecting its agricultural performance.

The company reported that 9,423 hectares of mature rubber plantations were left unexploited, representing about 51% of its 18,595 hectares of mature rubber estates. In the oil palm business, 4,926 hectares remained idle, or nearly 36% of the company’s 13,690 hectares of mature plantations.

The large amount of idle farmland highlights the operational difficulties facing the state-owned agribusiness, whose operations are concentrated mainly in the Southwest and Littoral regions. According to CDC, it was one of the main reasons the company failed to meet its 2025 production targets.

Insecurity continues to disrupt production

CDC attributed the weak performance to reduced cultivated areas, insufficient agricultural inputs, and ongoing security challenges in some production zones. In its rubber operations, the company said it lost two months of peak harvesting because of lockdowns imposed during the school reopening period and ahead of the election campaign. The disruptions affected tapping operations, which depend on regular access to plantations.

The company also reported several serious security incidents, including the killing of senior field staff in Ekona, Mungo, and Sonne/Likomba. According to CDC, the attacks disrupted operations across several plantations and continue to limit the company’s recovery efforts.

CDC said the socio-political crisis affecting Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions since 2016 continues to weigh on its operations. Since 2018, the conflict has forced the company to suspend activities on several estates, led to the deterioration and loss of assets, and contributed to accumulated losses that weakened shareholders’ equity between 2019 and 2024.

Lower spending on farm inputs

Operational difficulties were also reflected in procurement. Spending on agricultural inputs fell 12% in 2025, mainly because of lower purchases of fertilizers, crop protection products, and other farming supplies. The reduction limited the company’s ability to improve yields on the plantations that remained in production and constrained efforts to gradually restore operations on mature estates that are still idle.

Purchases of other supplies, including spare parts, banana packaging materials, irrigation equipment, lubricants, and construction materials, declined by 1%, reflecting efforts to maintain a minimum level of industrial and logistics activity despite the challenging operating environment.

CDC also generated CFA74.5 million from the disposal of fixed assets. This included CFA58.5 million from the sale of oil palm and coconut seedlings produced at its Bota nursery and CFA16.1 million from the sale of rubber stumps used for grafting.

While these revenues provided some additional income, they remain modest compared with the scale of the idle plantations and the investment needed to revive operations.

The 2025 financial statements show that CDC’s main challenge remains restoring production on its mature plantations. Until a significant share of these estates returns to operation, the company’s financial recovery is likely to remain fragile.

Source: Business in Cameroon