Determinants of Regulatory Compliance among Agricultural Input Dealers in Cameroon

The study investigated the institutional and operational determinants of regulatory compliance among agricultural input dealers in Cameroon. It drew on raw data from an exhaustive census of 1,614 agricultural input dealers, conducted in 2025 by the Ministry of Agriculture using questionnaire administered by trained enumerators. Data were analysed using percentages and binary logistic regression. Results showed that only 14.8% of dealers achieved full institutional compliance (licence, commercial register, approved product list), 16.5% attained full operational compliance (stock management, storage warehouse, qualified staff), and only 7.6% met all six criteria. Main bottlenecks were multiple administrative documents (85.2%) and the shortage of qualified personnel (53.8%). Compliant dealers were predominantly tertiary-educated (58.2%), registered as limited companies (48.4%), and operating for over ten years (38.5%), whereas non?compliant dealers were mostly sole proprietors (87.8%) with secondary education or below (77.3%). Significant determinants of full compliance were tertiary education (OR=7.61), limited company status (OR=11.93), business seniority >10 years (OR=6.98), and dealer age ?60 years (OR=2.49). The Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and its National Observatory for Agricultural Inputs, should implement an integrated strategy that facilitates business formalisation, invests in workforce training, and provides sustained support to early?stage operators.