**1. Introduction**

Price volatility of agricultural raw materials on international markets (cotton, cocoa, coffee, etc.)<sup>1</sup> and its consequences on national food production, as well as the recurrence of food crises in many African countries over the past fifteen years, have repositioned agricultural issues on the agendas of governments of both developing and developed countries and international institutions. In addition to the commitments made by States at the 1996 World Food Summit, notably the increase of budget allocation for agriculture by at least 10%, and on the occasion of numerous world meetings (G8 Agriculture Summit of 2009, G20 Agriculture of 2011…), international and national responses to these two major global crises have mainly mobilised two converging agronomic trajectories: agricultural intensification (in the sense higher yields through better access to synthetic inputs and irrigation), and crop diversification to increase domestic food supplies and improve farmers' incomes.

the past 25 years (123% between 1996 and 2004), particularly in Latin America [3, 4]. Since 2010, soybean ranks 2nd among the legumes cultivated in the cotton basin after peanuts, followed by cowpea and voandzou, which are, however, culturally and economically more adopted by

Nearly 60% of cotton producers have either abandoned cotton growing, diversified food crops or replaced those less profitable and poorly supervised by public and private actors supporting agricultural development (case of *Vigna unguiculata L. walp - cowpea* -). The dominant trend that consists in establishing monoculture plots causes agro-systems reconfiguration and

In an increasing number of family farms, cotton has thus ceased to be the head of crop rotation

industrial demand for Nigeria. Macroeconomic data show that Cameroon imports an average

industrial demand. The rapid evolution of cultivated areas from 6,705 ha in 2008 to 15,020 ha in 2018 (FAOSTAT, Op.Cit.) is indicative of farmers' enthusiasm for this speculation which benefits little from the supervision of public authorities. Its rapid development in the Cameroonian cotton basin, where the income of more than 80% of agricultural assets historically depends on

The above context raises the following research question: Can the productive and market dynamics on soybeans support the construction of a sustainable value chain to meet agroindustrial demand and improve farmers' incomes? The objective of this research paper is to analyse the sustainability challenges of a productive and market dynamics built around a speculation which is subject to strong demands of international competitiveness and offers a strong potential for improving farmers' incomes. The reflection initiated is based on the postulate that soybean brings out the structuring elements of a value chain, but its viability remains precarious by a set of constraints inherent in the proven inability of farmers to empower themselves to optimise production and control marketing, as well as poor technical supervision of culture. These constraints jeopardise the prospects for the sustainability of a

Soybeans (*Glycine max (L.) Merr*.) are today one of the main and important sources of proteins (40–42%) and vegetable oil (18–22%) used in human food [7, 8]. However, as with many other crops, its yield is limited in Sub-Saharan Africa by several factors, including poor cultivation practices, inadequate choice of land for its cultivation, degradation of soil fertility, climate

3 Household consumption remains marginal, soybeans having so far integrated the eating habits of the Sudano-Sahelian

the sale of cotton, creates a need to understand the challenges of this development.

soybean value chain despite the guarantee of a proven agro-industrial market.

hence the challenge to increase domestic supply to meet agro-

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) Production in the Cameroonian Cotton Basin…

national and cross-border agro-

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a year, and GMO soybean

the populations [5, 6].

modifies rotations.

meal worth CFAF 14 billion,5

**1.1 State of knowledge on the topic**

populations compared to the southern part of the country.

4 EUR 15, 244, 900 5 EUR 2,342,900

for the benefit of soybeans and incidentally peanuts.

Most of the regional production fuels partially estimated3

of 20,000 tonnes of soybeans worth approximately CFAF 10 billion4

Soybean is a good example of the realisation of this second trajectory in the Sudano-Sahelian zone. Its dynamics of spatial diffusion and production observed in ten years is an invitation to put into perspective many pessimistic, even alarmist judgements, on the capacity of African agriculture to meet the multiple challenges of increasing and diversifying agricultural production, improving farmers' incomes and supplying domestic agro-industries. These judgements are based in particular on still weak agricultural growth to alleviate rural poverty, the low representativeness of agriculture in international trade, the impact of price cuts and fluctuations of the main export products on the producers who are gradually integrated into logics of market economy and productivity [2]. In this author's opinion, nothing in these trends led to think that African agriculture is preparing to face economic, social and ecological challenges whose magnitude is still unprecedented in history, thus positioning agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa, in a unique situation compared to other continents.

Experimentation, support for the dissemination and development of soybeans in the Sudano-Sahelian area in Cameroon constituted a strategic option for the Cotton Development Company (SODECOTON). The idea was to create added value in the face of volatile cotton prices on international markets. Diversification aimed at meeting the revitalisation needs of a society polarised by the cotton sector (support for farmers' contractual production, export of fibres and production of vegetable oil based on cotton seeds).

Thus, since 2008, this area, which shelters the cotton basin, is experiencing a dynamics of soybean production which involves profound changes in Sudano-Sahelian agro-systems and participates in the (re) configuration of new market relations between producers, traders, distribution intermediaries and agro-industrial companies. Available official statistics indicate that regional production increased from 41 tonnes in 2007 to almost 14,000 tonnes in 2017, while the total production in Cameroon for the same period was 7,801 and 18,886 tonnes, respectively.<sup>2</sup> This development followed the global trend marked by significant growth over

<sup>1</sup> For example, [1], evaluating the rates of change of certain raw materials, notes that with an average variability of 25.8% over the period 2003–2012 according to the instability index calculated by the United Nations for trade and development (UNCTAD), cotton prices are among the most volatile, far ahead of those of wheat (18.2%) or coffee (17.3%). 2 FAOSTAT http://www.fao.org/faostat/fr/#data/QC accessed on June 23, 2020.

the past 25 years (123% between 1996 and 2004), particularly in Latin America [3, 4]. Since 2010, soybean ranks 2nd among the legumes cultivated in the cotton basin after peanuts, followed by cowpea and voandzou, which are, however, culturally and economically more adopted by the populations [5, 6].

Nearly 60% of cotton producers have either abandoned cotton growing, diversified food crops or replaced those less profitable and poorly supervised by public and private actors supporting agricultural development (case of *Vigna unguiculata L. walp - cowpea* -). The dominant trend that consists in establishing monoculture plots causes agro-systems reconfiguration and modifies rotations.

In an increasing number of family farms, cotton has thus ceased to be the head of crop rotation for the benefit of soybeans and incidentally peanuts.

Most of the regional production fuels partially estimated3 national and cross-border agroindustrial demand for Nigeria. Macroeconomic data show that Cameroon imports an average of 20,000 tonnes of soybeans worth approximately CFAF 10 billion4 a year, and GMO soybean meal worth CFAF 14 billion,5 hence the challenge to increase domestic supply to meet agroindustrial demand. The rapid evolution of cultivated areas from 6,705 ha in 2008 to 15,020 ha in 2018 (FAOSTAT, Op.Cit.) is indicative of farmers' enthusiasm for this speculation which benefits little from the supervision of public authorities. Its rapid development in the Cameroonian cotton basin, where the income of more than 80% of agricultural assets historically depends on the sale of cotton, creates a need to understand the challenges of this development.

The above context raises the following research question: Can the productive and market dynamics on soybeans support the construction of a sustainable value chain to meet agroindustrial demand and improve farmers' incomes? The objective of this research paper is to analyse the sustainability challenges of a productive and market dynamics built around a speculation which is subject to strong demands of international competitiveness and offers a strong potential for improving farmers' incomes. The reflection initiated is based on the postulate that soybean brings out the structuring elements of a value chain, but its viability remains precarious by a set of constraints inherent in the proven inability of farmers to empower themselves to optimise production and control marketing, as well as poor technical supervision of culture. These constraints jeopardise the prospects for the sustainability of a soybean value chain despite the guarantee of a proven agro-industrial market.

#### **1.1 State of knowledge on the topic**

Soybeans (*Glycine max (L.) Merr*.) are today one of the main and important sources of proteins (40–42%) and vegetable oil (18–22%) used in human food [7, 8]. However, as with many other crops, its yield is limited in Sub-Saharan Africa by several factors, including poor cultivation practices, inadequate choice of land for its cultivation, degradation of soil fertility, climate

4 EUR 15, 244, 900

<sup>3</sup> Household consumption remains marginal, soybeans having so far integrated the eating habits of the Sudano-Sahelian populations compared to the southern part of the country.

<sup>5</sup> EUR 2,342,900

change [9]. The orientation of this research highlights three major issues that have so far structured the production axes of knowledge on soybeans: those relating to socio-economic diversification in rural Africa, those relating to energy diversification and the fight against climate change, and finally those inherent in the polarisation of soybean productive dynamics by the agrifood industry in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa.

of intensifying the use of chemical inputs and its corollary on the soils and water resources. Greenhouse gas emissions linked to seed production would be considerably reduced [12]. However, on the other hand, the extension of cultivated areas contributes significantly to deforestation and the degradation of plant cover [13, 14]. The impact of agricultural value chains on the environment increasingly underpins research dynamics, like the research initiative funded by the European Union through the "Value Chain Analysis For Development" Project (VCA4D) from 2016 to 2019, involving 24 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Central

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) Production in the Cameroonian Cotton Basin…

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The food industry is one of the industrial sectors that have experienced particularly remarkable development over the past 20 years. This development has been accompanied by an extraordinary diversification of the supply of processed products based on cereals, legumes, oilseeds, etc. Global meat consumption statistics, for instance, show that almost three-quarters of the world's soybeans are used to feed animals, including poultry and pork. Between 1967 and 2007, pig meat production increased by 294%, that of eggs by 353% and that of poultry meat by 711%. Over the same period, the relative cost of these products has decreased. As the world's primary source of animal feed, soybeans have become an indispensable part of the intensive agricultural model [4]. Soybeans make up the Bulk of Dairy products, Oils and Flours. Food industry has become a driving force for production in Sub-Saharan Africa through a network of national companies which polarise the productive dynamics particularly oriented towards organic production. This third axis needs to be documented with regard to innovations on technical routes, marketing

The study mobilises the theory of spatial diffusion whose interest has been revived in contemporary geographic studies by [15, 16] with the contributions of [17–19]. These pioneering works emphasise the importance of temporality and spatiality in any diffusion process. Because any diffusion requires contacts between transmitters and receivers, these contacts implying contiguity or spatial connectivity [20, 21]. The theory is appropriate for studying the processes that involve the movement of materials, products, people, practices, or ideas together. It structures three main stages: the initial stage of appearance and progressive growth of the phenomenon observed, the intermediate stage of acceleration of growth, and the final stage of saturation and decay. In social sciences, the notion of diffusion is associated with innovation, from which it is inseparable. Introduction and popularisation trajectories of soybeans fit well with the dynamics of innovation according to Schumpeter (1934). This innovation supposes the combination of new things which propagate in an environment by causing irreversibilities in that environment's evolution (varietal selection, technical routes,

7 Agrinature, *Value Chain Analysis For Development* » (VCA4D) https://europa.eu/capacity4dev/value-chain-analysis-for-

*1.1.3 Food industry: A vector for accelerating the development of soybean farming*

America and Southeast Asia.7

and transformation.

**1.2 Theoretical framework of the study**

development-vca4d- (accessed on June 23, 2020).

#### *1.1.1 Soybeans in socio-economic diversification challenges in African rural areas*

It was at the beginning of the 1970s that the IITA (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture) began its programme to improve African soybean lines, based on the crossing of high productivity lines of Asian origin and TGx lines (Tropical Glycine Cross). This work will, for example, enable Nigeria to boost the development of soybean production from 75,000 tonnes in 1980 (yield below 300 tonnes/ha) to 758,033 tonnes in 2018 (on average 1 tonne/ha) (FAOSTAT6 ). This speculation is now considered in Africa as one of the solutions that can improve the quality of food for populations, but also contribute to the diversification of farmers' incomes. Agronomic challenges for its establishment remain, however, significant; efforts aim at improving yield (1.2 tonne/ha on average), seed viability, fertilisation and inoculation of soybeans.

As early as the 1980s, soybean became part of the agro-systems of many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to ensure self-sufficiency in foodstuffs, along with incentives. The lack of processing opportunities will lead farmers in many countries to abandon it. In Cameroon, its popularisation dates back to fifteen years, but domestic demand was quick to take off (agroindustries producing vegetable oil, infant flour and dairy products, animal feed). However, this dynamics is scientifically poorly documented apart from sparse statistics.

## *1.1.2 Soybeans in the global challenges of energy diversification and the fight against climate change*

The past twenty years have been marked by an intense development of production and uses of biofuels in the world. From 1996 to 2006, the tonnage increased from around 16 million tonnes to almost 46 million [10]. This recent expansion has strengthened the relationship between agricultural (cereals, oilseeds and pulses) and energy markets, a situation favoured by national and regional policies. In 2019, the European Union (EU) authorised the import of American soybeans for the production of biofuel until 2021. Available statistics show that 75% of the EU soybean market share is covered by US production. However, it should be noted that interest in soybeans as a fuel source contributes to its growth in countries such as Argentina, whose production of soy-based agro-fuel exceeded that of Brazil in 2011. Agrifuels will therefore remain one of the engines of demand for soybeans, and analysts predict the probability of strong production growth by 2025 [11].

From an environmental point of view, soybeans are capable of capturing nitrogen from the air for their own growth and enrichment of their seeds with proteins, but also to fix it in the soil. Thus, its cultivation contributes to the fertilisation of the soil which would limit the prospects

<sup>6</sup> FAOSTAT (http://www.fao.org/faostat/fr/#data/QC), accessed on June 07, 2020.

of intensifying the use of chemical inputs and its corollary on the soils and water resources. Greenhouse gas emissions linked to seed production would be considerably reduced [12]. However, on the other hand, the extension of cultivated areas contributes significantly to deforestation and the degradation of plant cover [13, 14]. The impact of agricultural value chains on the environment increasingly underpins research dynamics, like the research initiative funded by the European Union through the "Value Chain Analysis For Development" Project (VCA4D) from 2016 to 2019, involving 24 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Central America and Southeast Asia.7

#### *1.1.3 Food industry: A vector for accelerating the development of soybean farming*

The food industry is one of the industrial sectors that have experienced particularly remarkable development over the past 20 years. This development has been accompanied by an extraordinary diversification of the supply of processed products based on cereals, legumes, oilseeds, etc. Global meat consumption statistics, for instance, show that almost three-quarters of the world's soybeans are used to feed animals, including poultry and pork. Between 1967 and 2007, pig meat production increased by 294%, that of eggs by 353% and that of poultry meat by 711%. Over the same period, the relative cost of these products has decreased. As the world's primary source of animal feed, soybeans have become an indispensable part of the intensive agricultural model [4]. Soybeans make up the Bulk of Dairy products, Oils and Flours. Food industry has become a driving force for production in Sub-Saharan Africa through a network of national companies which polarise the productive dynamics particularly oriented towards organic production. This third axis needs to be documented with regard to innovations on technical routes, marketing and transformation.

#### **1.2 Theoretical framework of the study**

The study mobilises the theory of spatial diffusion whose interest has been revived in contemporary geographic studies by [15, 16] with the contributions of [17–19]. These pioneering works emphasise the importance of temporality and spatiality in any diffusion process. Because any diffusion requires contacts between transmitters and receivers, these contacts implying contiguity or spatial connectivity [20, 21]. The theory is appropriate for studying the processes that involve the movement of materials, products, people, practices, or ideas together. It structures three main stages: the initial stage of appearance and progressive growth of the phenomenon observed, the intermediate stage of acceleration of growth, and the final stage of saturation and decay. In social sciences, the notion of diffusion is associated with innovation, from which it is inseparable. Introduction and popularisation trajectories of soybeans fit well with the dynamics of innovation according to Schumpeter (1934). This innovation supposes the combination of new things which propagate in an environment by causing irreversibilities in that environment's evolution (varietal selection, technical routes,

<sup>7</sup> Agrinature, *Value Chain Analysis For Development* » (VCA4D) https://europa.eu/capacity4dev/value-chain-analysis-fordevelopment-vca4d- (accessed on June 23, 2020).

choice of soils …). The mobilisation of this theory will make it possible to decipher the trajectory of soybean diffusion in an attempt to grasp its sustainability.

**2. Terms and conditions for developing soybean cultivation in the** 

Cotton cultivation is at the heart of multiple challenges in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Cameroon (**Figure 1**) [28–30]. The sector experienced a serious crisis from 2006 to 2011 following the constitution by China of large stocks of cotton fibre (EU-ACP, 2015), with the consequence of a drastic fall in production from 315,000 tonnes in 2005 to 180,000 tonnes in 2011 (FAOSTAT). The number of producers increased from 360,000 in 2006 to around 250,000 over the same period, following the drop in the purchase price of seed cotton from producers. The consequences of this fall in the purchase price were dramatic for the producer, given the function of supporting all the charges for agricultural inputs of food crops (cereals, legumes) that cotton plays [28, 29, 31]. They were more so for SODECOTON (drastic fall in the tonnage of exported fibre and seeds for the produc-

In 2006, SODECOTON initiated a crop diversification project through a feasibility study of soybeans and sunflower as a rotation crop with cotton [32]. This initiative will be avant-garde to the most severe production crisis that SODECOTON will experience between 2008 and 2011, with respectively 185,000 tonnes of unginned cotton produced, 140,000 tonnes, 190,000 tonnes and 180,000 tonnes, compared to 315,000 tonnes in 2005 (peak production which has

a possible diversification crop for soybeans,<sup>10</sup> mainly in the cotton front (Mayo-Rey Division)

9 Data available on the FAO website (http://www.fao.org/faostat/fr/#data/QC), accessed on June 28, 2020.

**Figure 1.** The Cameroonian cotton basin, a soybean production area.

average yield of 1600 kg / ha, more attractive than the varieties imported from IITA of Ibadan and Brazil [31].

10 The so-called "local" soybean varieties (Houla 1, Houla 2, TGX-849-29-4D, Carrefour Nari, Ngong and Pitoa 2) had an

). The results of the study foreshadowed the prospects for

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) Production in the Cameroonian Cotton Basin…

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**Cameroonian cotton basin**

never reached SODECOTON again9

unlike sunflowers.

**2.1 Cotton crisis as a vector to popularise soybeans**

tion of vegetable oil and cottonseed meal for animal feed).

The study uses the sector approach to complement the reality of the construction of the value chain analysed. Using [22] definition, a sector study is a very precise analysis of a whole system generated by a product. The concept refers to the economic analysis of a sequence of technically complementary physical operations enabling the creation, circulation and consumption of a good (or a service) [23, 24]. The supply chain approach constitutes an effective approach for structuring analysis in contexts of fragile institutional environments and failure of statistical information systems [25]. This fragility is inherent in the context of this study to the reliability of the data provided by the various contradictory sources of information. The mobilisation of this approach will make it possible to obtain knowledge on the functioning of the different segments that make up the sector, with a view to better deciphering the relationships between actors in these segments [26].

#### **1.3 Adopted methodological approach**

Data were collected using two approaches. The first focused on the statistical system on soybean production which combines the source of the Ministry of Agriculture through its branches at regional and divisional level on the one hand and that of FAO on the other hand. However, significant discrepancies between these two sources called for an arbitration which favoured data from the departmental branches closer to the field, despite the doubt about their reliability. This choice is supported by the monitoring of food production in the cotton area since 2006.8

The second approach was the subject of a diagnosis with actors of the sector through a questionnaire survey carried out between 2017 and 2019 among 500 farmers' members of the soybean producer groups chosen from the snowball technique. Questionnaires were directly administered to farmers in Touboro, Madingring, Mayo-Rey, Tcholliré sub-divisions, on the motivations for growing soybeans, marketing of the production, difficulties encountered, various types of support. Interviews were conducted with officials of the Soybeans Processing Industry of Cameroon (SOPROICAM), an agrifood company that governs the soybean sector in the Sudano-Sahelian zone, officials of the Cameroonian dairy company (Camlait) and service personnel of the Ministry of Agriculture premises.

Survey data were subjected to statistical processing in Excel to identify trends in production and marketing. Interviews were the subject of a qualitative treatment using the content analysis method.

In a first articulation, results present conditions and modalities of soybean farming in Cameroonian cotton basin. The second articulation describes the methods of building a value chain around speculation, and whose sustainability is questioned in a third articulation based on the difficulties and constraints raised by the stakeholders interviewed.

<sup>8</sup> Monitoring the development of food production in the Cameroonian cotton zone was the subject of a regional research project involving Cameroon, Chad and the Central African Republic from 2004 to 2009 [27].
