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Rice production in Cameroon is characterized by smallholder type of production, disease‐plagued farms, huge inefficiency, and largely depends on agro‐ecological conditions. So, the country imports most of its domestic consumption needs of rice. Using survey data from 1,141 Cameroonian smallholder rice farmers, their scores of technical efficiency, determinants and the extent of their variability across three agro‐ecological zones are analyzed. The results suggest significant room for improvement in the farmers’ technical efficiency which varies largely across and within agro‐ecological zones. Correlates of technical efficiency differentials among the farmers differ across agro‐ecological zones, ranging from the age and experience of farmer and land ownership in the Sahel, age of farmer, land ownership and distance village‐farm in the western highland, to agricultural training in the bimodal humid rain forest zone.

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What are the opportunities offered through informal cross-border trade-ICBT? What are the business and institutional constraints hindering the achievement of these opportunities? What are the coping mechanisms and do they differ with gender? These issues are addressed in this paper using the survey data covering three border sites in Cameroon e.g. Cameroon-Gabon-Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon-Chad-Nigeria, and Cameroon-Nigeria. A number of clear patterns emerge from the analysis. First, we find significant differences in the male-female socio-economic characteristics. Second, opportunities related to ICBT range from the strengthening of regional integration, involvement of women in the decision-making process within households, to the fulfilment of basic needs. Third, negative aspects of ICBT include violence-both physical and psychological and poor childrearing. We finally find gender differentials not only in the constraints faced, but in the coping strategies as well.