The aim of this paper is to study the cocoa market in Cameroon over the period 2000 to 2016. The study consisted in presenting in a general way the organization, structure and operating mechanisms of the Cameroon cocoa market, particularly the value chains from family farmers to final consumers through exports; it also allowed us to highlight some issues and prospects for reviving the cocoa sector in Cameroon. It shows that Cameroon, like most cocoa-producing countries, also faces many difficulties not only externally, but also because of the international environment (the volatility of the prices of export products), internally through implemented policy measures, their consistency and phasing, as well as their deadlines. Starting from the liberalization of the sector in the early 1990s to the devaluation of the CFA franc in January 1994, a relative stagnation of the country’s agricultural performance has been noted so far. The problem is therefore not only institutional and structural but also cyclical. With regard to domestic marketing, the government’s option of a return to stabilization will reaffirm the place and the role of the State in the management of the sector. As far as external marketing is concerned, to remedy this, the government option consists of setting up a state-controlled advanced sale system through the centralization of sales and the monitoring of their quantitative execution. However, for a development of Cameroon’s artisanal, semi-industrial and industrial cocoa processing industry, we need strong support and protection of the local industry in order to attract foreign investors and encourage local initiatives, with accompanying measures that make cocoa processing more profitable in Cameroon as in other producing countries.
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