Three million Cameroonians hungry in midst of plenty!.

As we reported exclusively yesterday, he said as a member of the International Coordination Group for Prevention of Hunger, he plans to push for more African countries to benefit from the grain from Ukraine initiative. 

“...I could also help raise awareness on the vulnerabilities that our own people also face on the issue of hunger and food insecurity. That’s really the advantage of serving on that kind of a panel because as a credible and respected voice by Ukrainians, I can help raise their awareness on the specific challenges that various countries face, including Cameroon,” Dr Fomunyoh said. 

Isn't it humiliating for a country like Cameroon, to be hoping for food assistance from Ukraine, whose population just doubles that of Cameroon?

Cameroon has some of the best fertile lands in Africa, with all four climatic zones ideal for farming. 

According to the World Food Programme, WFP, "agriculture is the mainstay of Cameroon’s economy, engaging an estimated 70 percent of the economically active population and accounting for an estimated 80 percent of the primary sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP. It also provides one third of foreign exchange earnings and 15 percent of the country’s budgetary resources''.      

The paradox is that despite the enormous potential, agriculture in Cameroon faces a plethora of challenges, thus compromising the country’s capacity to sufficiently nourish its expanding food needs.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, "three million people are acutely affected by food insecurity in Cameroon, in 2023".

The UN organisation, using a March 2023, report by Cadre Harmonisé, a respected NGO, explained that residents in the Far North, North West and South West Regions, are the most affected.

"The continuous high level of insecurity and armed violence in the Far North, North-West and South-West Regions, the rise of conflicts over natural resources (water, pastures, etc.), floods in the Far North and subsequent displacements, continue to have a severe impact on food security," the UN noted in its report.

Among the total projected figure of people in "acute food insecurity in the coming period", the report warned that "the number of people in emergency phase is expected to be higher by 45 per cent, compared to the same period last year".

It added that: "In 2022, humanitarian partners provided food assistance to 520,000 people (63 per cent of the target). In the 2023 humanitarian response plan, the Food Security Sector requested US$100.9 million to improve the food security of 1.1 million people, including internally displaced persons, refugees and vulnerable local populations. Partners aim to save the lives of food insecure people through food and cash distributions, the implementation of projects for sustainable livelihood, and the strengthening of the resilience and capacity of the communities to adapt to climate change". 

The organisation explained that the 2023 food donation activities targeted "crisis-affected populations in the Far North, North West, South West, East Regions and to a lesser extent Adamawa and North Regions".

The Cameroon government is not unaware of the exacerbating situation. When the Prime Minister, Head of Government, Head of Government, Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute, presented the country's economic roadmap for 2024 in parliament, he said: “…government will intensify efforts to boost the import-substitution policy prescribed by the Head of State. The challenge is to reduce our country’s dependence on importation of agri-food and fishery products, which weigh heavily on our balance of trade, despite the potentials that exists locally”. 

"To this end, government intends to increase the local production of certain foodstuffs such as maize, wheat, rice, fish, palm oil, sugar and many others, which are the staple foods of our households. I would like to seize this opportunity to invite all our fellow citizens to consume more of our local produce, which is readily available on our markets," he said. 

Isn't it because of the insufficiency of locally produced foodstuffs that Cameroonians resort to imported brands? 

Cameroon is blessed with abundant fertile land, good climatic conditions for all year farming and 70 percent of working population engaged in agriculture, yet the country has to beg from grains and other food items from WPF and the war-torn Ukraine!

Yes, government wants to ‘intensify’ agriculture, but how? Government spin-doctors will answer with promotion of ‘second generation agriculture’, which has become just like embroidery that beautifies a dress but doesn't change the texture.

Truth be told! Government needs to provide incentives for rural farmers to transform from hoe-and-cutlass farming to cottage scale mechanised operations, offer incentives for large scale investors to open plantations and facilitate acquisition of farmland, which at the moment is hard to acquire. 

Yaounde should also set up the Farmer's Bank which President Biya promised at the Ebolowa Agric Show.

Most importantly, government should provide security in the "risky zones" of the North West and South West Regions, by ending the conflict through genuine inclusive dialogue.

Without such actions, which are contributing to some three million Cameroonians hungry and millions of others struggling with high costs of living, the country will continue to go cap in hand and on bended soliciting for grains from Ukraine and food aid from WFP, when it has the resources to be in the ivy league of food self-sufficiency and export the surplus.