'Some, like these, have passed the harvest period,' says one of his associates, Patrick Yaptieu, pushing aside a pile of mushrooms which have turned from the desired white colour to a yellowish hue. To obtain the soil-free culture, corn cobs are mixed with nutrients such as bran flour, wheat and ox blood Daniel Beloumou Olomo AFP 'We are in the mushroom house of our GIC,' Youbi announces proudly amid the rows on rows of fungi growing on shelves on agricultural waste packaged in plastic bags. Youbi grows thousands of oyster mushrooms in a darkened room of the Common Initiatives Group - GIC Champignon - which he launched with associates in Maetur, a district of Bafoussam, four years ago. In Bafoussam, capital of the Western region and fifth largest city, Jean-Claude Youbi saw an opportunity to exploit, like other small farmers around the nation of 28 million inhabitants.
Fungiculture, or the cultivation of edible mushrooms, is long-developed in the West, while China has become by far the world's largest producer.īut it remains very rare in Africa, despite the advantages of being almost free and supplying 'clean' food by recycling waste.Ĭameroonians are particularly fond of mushrooms but have to wait for the rainy season to identify and gather the edible fungi in the wilds of the west-central African country.
