As 30,000 day-old chicks and 100 pure-breed piglets were handed over to farmers in the North West Region of Cameroon on Friday 25 September 2026, the Director of the North West Livestock Development Fund (CDENO), Mbah Chupong Michael, used the occasion to make a broader case for livestock production based on locally available and safer feed.
Speaking to Hilltopvoices, he said farmers should increasingly look towards what can be produced around them, linking the approach to Cameroon’s import-substitution policy.
“That’s the policy of the government,” he said in an interview after the distribution ceremony. “When we are on import substitution, it means that we should make good use of things that are produced around us.”
His argument comes as farmers face the cost of livestock inputs and growing concerns over the quality and safety of food produced for human consumption.
According to him, the question is not simply how quickly a pig or table bird can reach market weight, but also what goes into the animal during that process.
“If all of us can consume home-produced goods, it will help the government to sustain the policy of import substitution, and at the same time it will be cost-effective for us because we’re producing what is consuming what is produced around us,” he said.
He went further, reflecting on changes in food consumption over generations.
“At times, I even ask myself, what happened in the past that people in the villages used to live longer than now?” Mbah said. “Maybe because of what they were consuming.”
The remarks came during the fifth edition of the annual mass distribution of livestock inputs to farmers by CDENO, held in Bamenda.
The distribution is part of government support to revive and expand livestock production in the region, with the 2026 edition targeting at least 500 farmers, including beneficiaries with special needs.
The assistance comprised according to the Director of CDENO comprise 30,000 day-old chicks, 100 pure-breed piglets and 142.5 tonnes of animal feed. The feed package included 15 tonnes of poultry starter feed, 2.5 tonnes of pig starter feed and 125 tonnes of dairy feed. Four hundred milk collection cans are also to be distributed to dairy farmers subsequently.
The intervention is coming at a time when feed remains one of the most important costs in poultry production. The Food and Agriculture Organisation says feed is the most important input in intensive poultry production and that good-quality feed is essential for animal performance and health. It also warns that contamination of poultry feed, including by mycotoxins, can affect bird performance and the safety of poultry products for human consumption.
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For pigs and poultry, the quality of feed is equally important because both species depend heavily on carefully balanced diets for growth. FAO notes that locally available alternative feed ingredients can reduce production costs when they are properly processed and incorporated into correctly formulated diets. Poorly selected alternatives, however, can contain anti-nutritional factors or vary widely in nutritional value.
FAO guidance, encourages good-quality organic feed, appropriate stocking, natural disease-prevention measures and reduced reliance on chemical veterinary treatments, while maintaining the health and welfare of animals.
Research compiled through FAO’s Feedipedia also indicates that the source of certain nutrients can matter. In pigs and poultry, organic sources of trace minerals can have higher bioavailability and greater body retention than some inorganic forms, while excessive use of inorganic trace minerals can increase mineral excretion and contribute to environmental contamination.
For North West farmers, the issue is about knowing what the animal is eating, where the ingredients come from, whether the feed has been properly formulated and whether it meets the nutritional requirements of the animal.
That message fits into CDENO’s own expanding feed-production programme.
Government records show that CDENO has also been procuring certified-quality feed ingredients this year. A May 2026 public-contract decision records a contract worth about FCFA 179.7 million for the supply of certified-quality feed ingredients to CDENO. Another contract, worth about FCFA 60 million, covered certified-quality feed ingredients and inputs for assistance to livestock farmers.
The development gives the government-backed livestock institution a potentially important role in helping farmers move towards more controlled and traceable feeding systems.
Mbah Chupong Michael said the products supplied by CDENO are subsidised by the government and urged farmers to deal directly with the institution rather than intermediaries who could exploit them.
“Always come directly here in the office to place your requests officially in order to benefit from these government subsidies,” he told farmers.
The timing of the September distribution is also deliberate.
According to CDENO, the month is considered a peak period for brooding, allowing poultry farmers to prepare birds for the increased demand associated with the end-of-year festive period.
Speaking at the event North West Governor Adolphe Lele Lafrique said the latest intervention would assist at least 500 livestock farmers, including persons with special needs. He also highlighted the additional support for dairy farmers coming through the Integrated Agropastoral and Fisheries Import Substitution Plan.
The initiative follows assistance provided to about 3,000 livestock and fisheries farmers under the Emergency Project to Combat Food Crisis in Cameroon (PULCCA) last year.
For CDENO, however, distributing animals and feed is only one part of the equation. The larger objective is to increase production while reducing dependence on imported inputs and strengthening the capacity of farmers to produce food for local markets.
That is where the appeal for greater use of locally produced resources by the Director CDENO meets the wider debate about organic and sustainable livestock production.
A piglet or broiler may be ready for the market in a relatively short period under intensive production, but the feed used to achieve that growth remains part of the production story.
CDENO’s latest distribution therefore places renewed emphasis on the question of how those animals will be raised, what they will consume and how much of what they consume can be produced within the communities they are expected to feed.
If that approach succeeds, the benefits could extend beyond individual farms to lower dependence on imported inputs, stronger local feed production, improved livestock productivity and a more resilient supply of locally produced animal protein.
But as the science around livestock nutrition shows, the priority must remain quality and safety rather than simply “organic” as a label. Properly formulated feed, sound animal-health practices, clean water and good husbandry remain essential to producing healthy animals and safe food.
By Bakah Derick for Hilltopvoices Web
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