As part of Cameroon’s National Development Strategy by 2030 (SND30), programme 004 of the Ministry of Defence, entitled: “Assistance, Reconversion of Military Personnel and Reintegration of ACVGs” implemented by the Secretary of State to the Ministry of Defence in Charge of Ex-Servicemen and War Victims (SED/CACVG), is gaining momentum.
Following partnerships between the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and the Chamber of Agriculture, Fisheries, Livestock and Forestry (CAPEF) on the one hand, and MINDEF and APME on the other, professional reconversion has become a reality since 2022, thanks to the training and capacity-building of ACVGs and even retiring military personnel.
Just like Ecole Pratique d’Agriculture et d’Agro-industrie de Dizangue (EPAAD), the Agency for the Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises (APME), the Practical School of Agriculture of BINGUELA (EPAB), the Ecole Pratique d’Agriculture et d’Elevage de Sanguéré (EPAES), Obala Agricultural Institute (IAO), Ecole Pratique d’Agriculture et d’Elevage de Kouoptamo (EPAEK) was home to the training of Ex-Servicemen and War Victims for professional reconversion in agro-pastoral and piscicultural activities, for the last project of 2023.
On the evening of November 26, 2023, the selected Ex-Servicemen and War Victims from the West and Adamawa regions joined the Ecole Pratique d’Agriculture et d’Elevage de Kouoptamo, a center for impregnation and seasoning in specialties such as agriculture, livestock breeding and fish farming.
Over a period of ten days, the ACVGs were able to take full advantage of the theoretical and practical lessons delivered by a panel of experts at military pace and with a pedagogical approach adapted to the needs of senior citizens. The relevance of the modules covered, the knowledge and know-how disseminated, and feedback from farming operations, held the attention of the trainees, who stood out for their punctuality and assiduity.
In the same vein, a relaxing field trip to Mr. NSANGOU ALASSA KOUNGOU‘s farm gave trainees the opportunity to put into practice what they had learned, and to adopt the best techniques for achieving the desired final effect, which is to improve their living conditions through animal and crop production. To this end, discipline, a core value of our Defence and Security Forces, will be a major asset for the professional reconversion of Ex-Servicemen and War Victims into real farmers, who will create jobs and wealth.
The closing ceremony, presided over on December 6, 2023 by Mr Patrick SUH NDELE, Inspector General of the West Regional Services, representing the Governor who was unable to attend, marked the end of the seminar which, beyond the knowledge received, will have strengthened cohesion among the ACVGs and boosted their morale.
While expressing their deep gratitude to the High Command, the trained ACVGs returned home satisfied and determined to really invest themselves in animal and plant production, in order to make their contribution to the implementation of the government’s import-substitution policy.
