The Silent Crisis on Cameroon’s Farm-to-Market Roads.

Hi guys, accept special greetings from the motherland of Cameroon and welcome to my blog where I’m gonna share about the poor state of farm to market roads in my locality called Santa sub division.

Santa’s agriculture feeds not only the nation but also other countries like Gabon, Central African Republic, Chad etc yet the very farmers who sustain our cities and other countries are being held back by a problem we talk about too little which is the deplorable state of farm-to-market roads.

^{*The state of the roads are deplorable and no one risk taking a good car to such roads.}

Across the North West region of Cameroon, especially in rural villages and suburban farming communities, farmers are producing more food than ever before. From potatoes, to tomatoes, vegetables, maize, and beans, the land is generous. But between the farm and the market lies a broken link which is the poor roads that turn hard work into heartbreak.

Most farmers live and work far from urban centers where demand and purchasing power are highest. To get their produce to cities like Douala, Yaoundé, Bafoussam, or Bamenda, they must navigate muddy, narrow, and poorly maintained roads.

During the rainy season, many of these roads become completely impassable. Trucks get stuck for hours or days and sometimes even months. Motorbikes overturn and had to struggle to transfer ye produce. Farmers are charged exorbitant fees because of the risks involved by transporters.

What should be a simple journey becomes an expensive gamble. For farmers dealing with perishable goods, the consequences are devastating. Fresh vegetables wilt under the sun as vehicles break down. By the time some goods finally arrive in town, their quality has dropped so badly that traders either reject them or force farmers to sell at throwaway prices. In many cases, farmers return home with losses instead of profits, despite months of labor.

This reality creates a painful contradiction. The cost of farming in Cameroon is high, seeds, fertilizers, tools, labor, and sometimes rented land all require significant investment. Yet when harvest time comes, farmers are unable to sell their produce at fair prices.

Middlemen often exploit the situation, using poor road conditions as an excuse to push prices down further. The farmer bears all the risk, while others along the value chain reap the benefits.

The impact goes beyond individual farmers. Poor farm-to-market roads threaten national food security. When farmers reduce production due to repeated losses, urban food supply shrinks and prices rise. Consumers complain about expensive food, while farmers complain about low incomes. Youth who might have embraced agriculture are discouraged, seeing it as back-breaking work with little reward. Rural poverty deepens, and migration to cities increases.

Therefore, improving farm-to-market roads is not a luxury rather it is an economic necessity. Good rural roads would reduce post-harvest losses, lower transportation costs, and stabilize food prices in urban areas. They would empower farmers to plan better, invest more confidently, and increase production. They would also attract agro-processors and buyers directly to farming communities, creating jobs and stimulating local economies.

Santa has the land, the climate, and the roads to be an agricultural powerhouse. What is missing is consistent investment in the basic infrastructure that connects farms to markets. Development cannot be achieved when rural producers are cut off from opportunity. If we truly value agriculture as the backbone of our economy, then farm-to-market roads must become a national priority.

Supporting farmers means more than speeches and policies, it means building roads that work, in every season. Until then, the journey from farm to market will remain a costly struggle, and the true potential of Santa’s agriculture will continue to be lost in the mud.