Myciculture, or the cultivation of edible mushrooms, developed for a long time in the West and especially in China, by far the world's leading producer, is still very rare in Africa even if it has the advantage of producing food by recycling waste " clean", and almost free.

Cameroonians are particularly fond of them but have to wait for the rainy season to pick them up in nature.

In Bafoussam, capital of the Western region and third largest city in the country, Jean-Claude Youbi has detected a vein there, like other small entrepreneurs across this vast country of 28 million inhabitants.

Thousands of oyster mushrooms grow in a dark room of his Common Initiatives Group called GIC Champignon, launched with associates four years ago in Bafoussam.

They are grown in rows in shelves on agricultural waste packaged in plastic bags.

"We are in the mushroom house of our GIC", proudly launches Mr. Youbi.

“Some, like these, have passed the harvest period,” explains one of his associates, Patrick Yaptieu, pushing aside a pile of yellowish mushrooms instead of the usual white.

Then he places the good harvest of the day in bags, heading for the GIC shop, towards the center of Bafoussam.

There, the kilo is sold for 2,000 CFA francs (3 euros), when it costs up to 3,500 in Yaoundé, the capital, or Douala the economic capital.

corn cobs

It is difficult to get an idea of ​​the extent and weight of the sector because there are no official national data on this production and its consumption.

Constant comings and goings punctuate the life of the GIC Champignon.

In a small room, two young trainees are shoveling a pile of agricultural residues.

For this soilless culture, "we mixed the corn cobs (the spine of the cob) with nutrients such as bran and wheat flour, and beef blood", explains Brice Nono Djomo, manager of production.

“We added a fungicide to it to avoid bad fungi,” he adds, assuring that its effects fade after two weeks, well before the mushrooms grow.

An employee prepares the corn substrate that will serve as a basis for mushroom growth, in Bafoussam on June 3, 2022 Daniel Beloumou Olomo AFP

Once the mixture is made, this substrate is sterilized, placed in drums and heated over a wood fire.

Then cooled and distributed in sachets.

After the introduction of the seed, the bags are placed in the mushroom house.

It will take 30 days to see the first feet appear.

"I was amazed to discover this way of cultivating mushrooms", marvels Junior Leogip, 12 years old.

This 6th grade student uses his school holidays for an internship at GIC Champignon.

"I learned to prepare the substrate... I want to know everything", assures the teenager, swearing to himself to integrate an agricultural school after his baccalaureate.

"My ambition is to launch my own production and be independent," says Léa Tona, another trainee from Yaoundé.

"Mushroom Whiskey"

Every three months, for the duration of a cultivation campaign, this GIC in Bafoussam produces 300 to 400 kg of mushrooms, 80% of which are sold directly to consumers and the rest transformed into body or hair oils, soap, juice and even into a liqueur that Mr. Youbi presents as "mushroom whiskey".

In a small laboratory of his GIC, he grinds part of the harvest in a blender to obtain a juice which will be combined with other elements for these by-products.

An employee in the preparation of the culture base, at the GIC Champignon in Bafoussam, June 3, 2022 Daniel Beloumou Olomo AFP

"For beauty oils, we can add snail slime and a perfume to give a pleasant smell", he says without revealing his secrets: "we are in a promotion phase. For the oil of hair, we give boxes to some hairstylists to experiment with."

"It softens the hair and makes it grow back, it treats dandruff, hair breakage", explains Josiane Sogo in her hairdressing salon.

Corn substrate, the basic ingredient of myciculture, in Bafoussam on June 3, 2022 Daniel Beloumou Olomo AFP

But some prefer to taste them.

"I am a very big consumer of mushrooms, especially for its virtues. It is a vegetable meat that keeps me away from several dangers", advances Barthélémy Tchoumtchoua by putting in a skewer of his favorite dish rich in proteins and vitamins B2, B3, B5 and D. And thanks to myciculture, "we can eat them all year round", he enthuses.

© 2022 AFP