Cameroon’s Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries, and Animal Industries (MINEPIA): Everything you ought to know

MINEPIA was reorganise lastly by presidential Decree No. 2012/382 of 14 September 2012 to organise the Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries, signed by President Paul BIYA. Dr Taiga, a veterinary doctor, currently heads it, following his presidential appointment on December 09, 2011.

MINEPIA has been under the tenure of about 10 different Ministers, and has witnessed significant reorganisations over these years both on its departments and its appellations. Let’s first have a brief history of this body in the following section.

History of MINEPIA

MINEPIA was established around the 1950’s before Cameroon got it’s independence in 1960, under the appellation: Ministry of livestock, with the first ever minister being NGAYEWANG PIERRE, appointed in 18 June 1959. In 1972, MINEPIA was extended to handle animal industries, in addition to the livestock it was already supervising – thus the name became Ministry of livestock and animal industries.  With the extension of the fisheries sector in Cameroon, the third component was added under MINEPIA’s supervision. It was then later named Ministry of livestock, fisheries and animal industries followed by the appointment of a new minister, AYANG LUC, on MAY 02, 1978. Now, MINEPIA boasts of having its delegates in all the divisions and sub-division of Cameroon.

Table 1: History of MINEPIA and its various ministers from 1959 to 2024

MINISTRY APPELLATIONS	PHOTOS OF MINISTERS	FIRST NAMES AND LAST NAMES	Appointment Date
Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries		Dr TAÏGA	DECEMBER 09, 2011
Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries		Dr ABOUBAKAR SARKY	08 DECEMBER 2004
Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries		Dr HAMADJODA ADJOUDJI	JULY 7, 1984
Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries		TORI LIMANGANA	FEBRUARY 4, 1984
Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries		AYANG LUC	MAY 02, 1978
Ministry of Livestock and Animal Industries		Dr MAIKANO ABDOULAYE	JUNE 30, 1975
Ministry of Livestock and Animal Industries		SADJO ANGOKAYE	FEBRUARY 08, 1973
Ministry of Livestock and Animal Industries		YOUSSOUFA DAOUDA	JULY 3, 1972
Ministry of Livestock		YADJI ABDOULAYE	JUNE 20, 1961
Livestock Secretariat		ACHINGUI PHILIPPE	MAY 16, 1960
Ministry of Livestock		NGAYEWANG PIERRE	JUNE 18, 1959

Organisational Chart of MINEPIA

According to Decree No. 2012/382 of 14 September 2012 to organise the Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries, MINEPIA consists of two main internal service branches:

1. MINEPIA’s Central services: a set of the ministerial departments located in Yaoundé, managing administrative processing of files assigned by the minister. They include: the Secretariat General, Department of Veterinary Services (DSV), Department of Animal Production and Industries Development (DDPIA), Department of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Fisheries Industries (DPAIH), etc.

2. MINEPIA’s Devolved services: MINEPIA delegations spread across the ten regions of the country coordinating fisheries activities, in the form of MINEPIA regional, divisional and sub-divisional delegations. MINEPIA has ten Regional Delegations, about fifty eight Divisional delegations, and about three hundred and fifty Sub-divisional delegates of livestock, fisheries and animal industries, corresponding to its ten regions, fifty eight divisions, and its 360 subdivisions .

It equally extends its technical supervision to external structures such as Attached services, and Bodies under its supervision:

1. Bodies under its supervision: These are bodies placed under MINEPIA’s technical supervision. They include: Société de Développement et d’Exploitation des Productions Animales (Livestock Development Corporation) (SODEPA); National Veterinary Laboratory (LANAVET).

SODEPA was established by decree No. 74/182 of 08 March 1974, amended and supplemented by decree No. 81/395 of 09 September 1981, then supplemented by the presidential decree of 12 February 2021 transforming it into a public limited company and operates as a public company governed by the laws and regulations in force in Cameroon on limited liability companies.

It has a share capital of 11,962,221,262 CFA francs (eleven billion nine hundred and sixty-two million two hundred and twenty-one thousand two hundred and sixty-one CFA francs) with headquarters in the city of Yaoundé. It focuses on the promotion, operating and development of all livestock enterprises and production of agricultural seeds needed for the breeding and processing of animal products: slaughterhouses, cold stores, packaging workshops.

2. Attached bodies: these are bodies with financial and administrative autonomy operating in close collaboration with MINEPIA.

They include:

• Les Centres Nationaux de Formation Zootechnique et Vétérinaire (National Zootechnical, Veterinary and Fisheries Training Centres) (CFZVH)
• Mission de Développement de la Pêche Artisanale Maritime (MIDEPECAM) (Arisanal Maritime Fisheries Authority);
• Mission Spéciale d’Éradication des Glossines (Special Mission for Tse-tse Fly Eradication);
• Caisse de Développement de la Pêche Maritime (Maritime Fisheries Development Fund) (CDPM);
• Caisse de Développement de l’Élevage pour le Nord (Livestock Development Fund for the North)(CDEN);
• Caisse de Développement de l’Élevage du Nord-Ouest (Livestock Development Fund for the North-West) (CDNO)

Roles of MINEPIA in Cameroon

MINEPIA is in charge of the development, implementation and evaluation of fisheries policy in Cameroon. Headed by a minister, it is responsible for:

1. development, planning and implementation of government programmes in the livestock, fisheries and animal and fisheries industries sector;
2. elaboration of regulations and monitoring of standards, as well as their application in the fields of livestock, fishing, animal and fishing industries;
3. studies and research for the renewal of animal, fishery and fish resources, in partnership with the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation;
4. quantitative and qualitative improvement of production in the livestock and fisheries sectors;
5. promotion of investments in the fields of livestock and fisheries, in partnership with the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development and the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Technological Development;
6. improvement of sanitary control in the field of maritime and fluvial fishing, and fish farming;
7. healthiness of foodstuffs of animal, fisheries and fish farming origin;
8. protection of maritime and river resources;
9. technical supervision of areas involved;
10. application of measures aimed at the conservation, development and exploitation of livestock and fishery products;
11. collection, production and analysis of statistics in the fields of animal husbandry, fisheries,
    animal industries and fisheries;
12. monitoring of professional organisations working in the fields of livestock and fisheries;
13. monitoring of the training of human resources in specific fields in collaboration with other interested Ministries;
14. monitoring of schools and training centres for veterinary medicine personnel and the professions concerned, excluding establishments under supervision of the Ministries in charge of educational matters.