Producteurs de tomate de la rive gauche du Noun face au retrait de la Société de Conserveries Alimentaires du Noun (SCAN) de la collecte du fruit sa matière première (hauts plateaux de l'ouest Cameroun).

To run the Noun Canning Company (SCAN) in Foumbot, the promoters popularized the production of industrial tomatoes on the left bank of the Noun River, becoming ipso facto the only collector of its raw material. Since the closure of SCAN in 2001, tomato growers have been struggling to sell this eminently fragile fruit. The following lines analyze the reaction of these market gardeners to the withdrawal of the fresh tomato collection industry in order to see if the method of selling the fruit implemented by the gardeners is beneficial and sustainable for them. A field visit shows that the tomato growers who used to deliver the fruit to the factory have created several channels and outlets to sell their goods on the market. Despite their efforts, several actors intervene to serve as a link to the market. Since they do not master the rules of the vegetable trade, it is the traders, with their experience in selling fruit and vegetables, who demand marketable quality, set the purchase price of the merchandise and impose new collection methods that reduce tomato producers to mere vendors. Market gardeners need to organize themselves to take advantage of a decent sale of tomatoes on the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]