Nestled in the heart of southern Cameroun, the sprawling Nkoemvone site spans over three hundred hectares, with ten actively maintained. A paved road cuts through the grounds, dotted with crumbling structures and marked by a plaque identifying it as the ‘Nkoemvone multi-purpose agricultural station’, under the authority of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Though the buildings show signs of severe decay, the station remains operational, particularly in agronomic research, with a primary focus on cacao plant propagation and distribution.
Established in 1944, Nkoemvone stands as a testament to colonial modernity, embodying what historian Hélène Blais describes as an ‘object-garden’ within the French colonial empire of the 20th century. During this period, the reproduction of plants became a dominant activity, and while Nkoemvone is less documented than counterparts like Bambey in Sénégal, it played a crucial role in transferring, introducing, and relocating crops—specifically cacao varieties—with the aim of reshaping the agricultural fabric of colonized societies. Its history, however, would prove fleeting, as its ambitions collided with the challenges of an independent Cameroun.
From crisis to colonial development
The global economic and social crisis of 1929, though softened in colonized Africa by metropolitan support, marked a turning point in French colonial policies. It led to the decline of the trade economy and forced the colonial state to take charge of infrastructure and export crops while addressing the living conditions of colonized populations. The French colonial administration thus embraced a ‘developmentalist’ approach, a shift further solidified during the Brazzaville Conference (January 30 to February 8, 1944), chaired by Charles de Gaulle. The conference aimed to revive the French economy and improve the welfare of colonized peoples through planned development.
Selecting high-yield cacao varieties
In agricultural discourse, a dominant narrative emerged: African societies were perceived as fundamentally agrarian, and their progress hinged on increasing yields through massive agricultural investment. This logic spurred the proliferation of agronomic research institutions across the French Empire, with Cameroun serving as a key observation ground. On June 8, 1944, French Cameroun Governor Eugène Paul Carras dissolved the Technical Council for Agriculture and Livestock, replacing it with three distinct services: Agriculture, Livestock, and Forestry.
This reorganization was more than administrative—it dedicated an entire service to agriculture. Agronomist Pierre Barthe, former head of the Agriculture Service in Cameroun, noted in a 1946 report that the new Agriculture Service was structured into multiple sub-services, including dedicated agronomic research institutions. Among these were three experimental stations: Dschang, Maroua, and Nkoemvone. While the first two were established during the interwar period, the Nkoemvone Cacao Experimental Station was founded in 1944 as a direct result of the June 8 reforms, embodying the modernization of colonialism that had begun earlier.
According to agronomist Raymond Juliat, who led the Agriculture Service in 1944, Nkoemvone was not initially established by formal decree. Its mission was straightforward: to ‘select cacao varieties for distribution, focusing solely on high-yield plants’. By 1947, three hundred hectares were requisitioned for the station, but construction efforts stalled due to labor shortages, equipment deficiencies, and the ‘absence of an overall plan’. Despite these obstacles, the colonial administration reaffirmed its purpose in 1948, officially designating it as a hub for research and experimentation the following year. Construction then began, funded by the cacao sector.
Forced labor and worker housing
The establishment of the Nkoemvone Experimental Station faced significant practical hurdles. In his 1949 annual report, station director Jean Braudeau highlighted personnel shortages that hindered construction, road development, nursery establishment, and the planting of 15 hectares. He managed to recruit temporary workers from a neighboring village, often paid per task. The voluntary or forced nature of this labor remains debated: while High Commissioner Renée Hoffherr began prohibiting forced recruitment in 1947, historian Léon Kaptué notes that forced labor persisted until 1949.
To attract workers from beyond the region, the colonial administration built housing within the station—a common practice among colonial authorities, as historian Gwendolyn Wright observed. These workers were tasked not only with constructing the station but also with participating in agronomic research activities.
Agronomist Achille Pacilly, who succeeded Jean Braudeau as station head in 1949, revealed that a labor camp was initially set up, consisting of twenty huts made of local materials. By 1956, fifty-eight permanent huts were constructed, eventually housing 130 to 140 families. The creation of the labor camp resolved the workforce issue. Alongside these accommodations, housing for managerial staff was erected, along with research laboratories, potable water and electricity supply systems, a clinic, and extensive facilities like nurseries and cacao variety gardens. The station’s development culminated in 1959, on the eve of the country’s independence.
A tool of colonial propaganda
Beyond its scientific role, the Nkoemvone Experimental Station also served as a tool of French colonial propaganda, particularly during the 1950s—a decade marked by violent repression by the French military against Cameroonian nationalists. In the cocoa-growing regions of southern Cameroun, the station was repurposed to win back hearts and minds.
In 1958, journalist and propaganda chief André Boyer produced a film titled ‘The Cacao Center of Nkoemvone’, part of a broader effort to ‘reintegrate the misled into normal life and convince the masses of the government’s sincere, nationalist actions’.
The station also showcased colonial benefits to international observers. The United Nations Mission to Visit Trust Territories in West Africa (1958) inspected the station on November 19, 1958, noting: ‘The station’s activities primarily involve selecting the best cacao varieties and producing cuttings for distribution to planters. The goal is to replace low-yield trees in plantations with elite plants. The station has already achieved promising results.’
After independence, the Cameroonian government under President Ahmadou Ahidjo co-opted this propaganda tool to enhance its international prestige. Reports from 1961-1962 reveal that the station hosted ambassadors from the United States, Germany, and African heads of state, including Philibert Tsiranana of Madagascar, Léon Mba of Gabon, and François Tombalbaye of Chad, along with the Director of the Paris National School of Administration and the World Bank’s Africa Director. However, this international recognition also heralded the beginning of a gradual decline.
French oversight until 1975
Following the 1960 independence, new states, including Cameroun, signed agreements with France that outlined shared research programs, mixed funding for operations, French commitment to capital investments, and the establishment of specialized institutes. These accords allowed France to continue administering the station, even appointing former colonial agronomists like Jacques Liabeuf as directors. As noted by scholars Jean Gaillard, Hocine Khelfaoui, and Jean Nya Ngatchou, this arrangement benefited the new Cameroonian state by enabling it to prioritize higher education while leaving scientific research to France. French oversight persisted until 1975.
In subsequent decades, the station entered a period of decline, exacerbated by the economic and social crisis of the 1980s, which severely impacted Cameroonian agronomic research. ‘The sector faced grave financial difficulties and budget restructuring,’ the authors noted, leading to a stagnation of research within the station.
Extractivist ambitions and postcolonial decay
The crisis in Cameroonian agricultural research mirrored broader declines in the country’s scientific sector. During its most acute phase (1990-1996), ‘Nationally funded research programs were halted; only externally funded projects continued, albeit with significant delays in salary payments.’ This situation resulted in reduced funding, researcher demoralization due to wage devaluations, and the abandonment of numerous programs, including those on cacao at Nkoemvone, where scientific activity nearly ceased.
In the early 1990s, the station was rebranded as a multi-purpose agronomic research station under the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (Irad), established by presidential decree in 1996 and reorganized in 2002. However, restructuring did little to improve its fortunes. The station continued to deteriorate, plagued by economic decline and natural disasters. On March 17, 2006, a violent storm destroyed plant trial areas, damaged the administrative block, and devastated numerous homes, as reported in the local press. Since then, conditions have not improved.
Ironically, the station’s vast size—once a symbol of its extractivist ambitions and role in transforming the environment—now hinders its restoration due to insufficient resources. This state of neglect is not solely a result of state disengagement, justified by successive crises and natural setbacks. It also reveals deeper contradictions in a colonial modernity project whose grandiose ambitions and extractivist visions clashed with the far more complex realities of the postcolonial era.