Reconnaissance and report on the potential for an area development project : northwest province, United Republic of Cameroon

Because the North West Province is an area with a great deal of ethnic, climatic, and agricultural diversity, interventions should be directed to specific ethnic and economic groups. Planning must also take advantage of the existing governmental system which seems to effectively combine elements of centralization and decentralization so as to permit realization of the benefits of each. However, organizational weaknesses in planning, in coordination with para-statals, and especially in local coordination of governmental actions prevail in a provincial/local structure that is otherwise well-suited to regional development project management. It is therefore expedient to provide assistance to strengthen the provincial capacity to plan, coordinate, and implement development activities, and to improve divisional, sub-divisional, and local capacities to synchronize village development activities with national and provincial level actions. Upgrading farm-to-market and other rural roads leads the list of plausible interventions. However, road construction is likely to prove ineffective without efforts to develop or improve markets, production inputs, credit, appropriate new technologies, government services, and small urban centers. The team recommends the prompt formation of a Provincial Planning, Management, and Monitoring Unit (PPMU) chaired by the Governor that will participate in designing the project. USAID/C should open discussions with the Cameroon Government on funding the project.