Large numbers of Cameroonians live as subsistence farmers. The country is often referred to as “Africa in miniature” for its geological, linguistic and cultural diversity

Although the growth of the petroleum industry since 1980 has resulted in a gradual decline in the importance of agriculture, forestry, and fishing to the gross domestic product (GDP), the sector continues to play a notable role in the economy. Whereas some nine-tenths of the working population was engaged in the sector in the 1970s, three decades later the proportion had dropped to slightly more than half. Primary agricultural and forest products provide about one-third of total export earnings, with sawn wood, cocoa, cotton, banana, rubber and coffee the leading agricultural exports. Small-scale farms are responsible for much of the agricultural exports. The main subsistence crops include plantains, beans, potatoes, yams, cassava (manioc), corn (maize), oil palm, millet and peanuts (groundnuts), 

Cameroon ranks among the world’s largest producers of cocoa beans. Robusta and arabica coffee are grown in the country. Systematic diversification of agricultural production into such crops as palm oil, rubber, and sugar has taken place. Food production has kept pace with population growth, and the country is generally self-sufficient. Domestic consumption of meat is reasonably high for a sub-Saharan African country. Livestock is exported to Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, and the Republic of Congo and hides and skins to Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea. Fisheries development is increasing though Industrial fishing accounts for only a fraction of the catch.

About half of the country is forested, but only about one-third of the available hardwood forest resources are exploited. Nevertheless, the export of sawn wood, which provides more than one-tenth of Cameroon’s export earnings, is one of the country’s most important sources of trade income.