Refugees, Insecurity Threaten Cameroon’s Food Security

The flood of over 300,000 refugees from the Central African Republic (CAR) and Nigeria, both neighbours to Cameroon, has led to fears of induced food security in the country. These fears are heightened following insecurity caused by Boko Haram in the North. The fears are also fuelled by refugees fleeing Boko Haram in Nigeria and the civil war in CAR.

By Ndimuh Bertrand Shancho

Global Watch (GIEWS) briefs on Cameroon, August 18, 2015, indicates that the influx of refugees from CAR and Nigeria, increasing civil insecurity and natural hazards has induced a sharp deterioration in the overall food security plight of Cameroon.

According to the briefs, over 248,000 refugees from CAR reside in Cameroon as a result of the sectarian violence that erupted in December 2013. Meanwhile, an estimated 56,400 refugees from Nigeria still reside in Cameroon following the June 2013 insecurity  situation in the Borno State. These, coupled with the upsurge of insecurity in the North and Far North of Cameroon posed by the Boko Haram insurgence, exposed an estimated 1.08 million people in Cameroon to food insecurity in early 2015; three times higher than two years earlier.

Corroborating the GIEES briefs, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MINADER), Henri Eyebe Ayissi, speaking at a press conference, October 14, 2015, in prelude to the World Food Day, disclosed that 12.04 percent of Cameroonians are underfed. The Minister underscored the need to step up efforts in this sector to ensure food availability to all Cameroonians given that drought, floods and insecurity are downplaying individual and government efforts.

Speaking to the Green Vision Newspaper recently, the Sub-Divisional Delegate of Agriculture and Rural Development, Elame Germain, who doubles as Sector Supervisor for the National Extension Programme, drawing inspiration from the Buea scenario, attributed the issue of food insecurity to lack of farm-to-market roads, limited training and technical experts and inadequate farm land for food production to meet up with population upsurge.

“In Buea for instance, the population is increasing in a geometric progression with the advent of the University and other higher institutions/professional schools but the land surface area is not increasing. Instead, more farming space is being used for building construction to accommodate the increasing population,” Elame said.

Elame disclosed that part of Mount Cameroon, which was hitherto used for crop cultivation, has been protected while most of the arable land for agriculture has been leased to CDC and the Cameroon Tea Estate, compounding the food production wahalla in the region.

“Farmers are ready to cultivate but there is no available land any longer. Most farmers come to complain that we should contact CDC to allow them cultivate on pieces of land they are fallowing. We find it difficult. In some cases, we don’t succeed,” said Elame.

 

The MINADER Sub-Delegate underscored the need to build farmer’s capacity for increased productivity and to train and recruit more personnel because the farmer/technician ratio is very high.

 

At the level of Buea Sub-division, Elame said a lot is being done in collaboration with SOWEDA, IRAD and local CIGs to make available improved seed varieties for crops like maize, yams, and cassava and training to farmers.

This effort, according to Elame, has not been easy due to financial difficulties and inadequate seeds to meet up with farmers’ demands.

He said they are working on how to cultivate 700 hectares of maize in Buea using hybrid species.

“We are going in for the hybrid species because with it, you can produce 7-11 tons per hectare unlike the composite varieties which were only able to produce 3-5 tons per hectare. We are also seeking grants from the PIFMAT and the government of Cameroon through MINADER to effect this,” the Delegate said.

Message to Minister of Agriculture

Elame Germain said if he met the newly appointed Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, he would suggest that there be an amount of decentralization in the coordination of projects within the ministry.

“There are lots of projects within MANADER like the Cassava Tuber Project, PIFMAT and Plantain projects, which covers Southwest and Littoral but the head office and all technical agents of all these projects are based in Douala; for Northwest and West Region, the head offices are based in Baffoussam. This has made contact between the farmers and the technicians for that project very difficult; how can a farmer from Manyu get in contact with somebody in Douala?” Elame questioned.

He said he would like the Minister to ensure that every project has a regional, Divisional and Sub-divisional coordinator to ensure direct link between farmers and technicians in the various projects.

“If I met the Minister, I would stress the need agriculture post offices to be constructed in all the regions so that farmers can know exactly where to take their problems to for technical advice unlike before. I will also recommend that more farm-to-market roads be constructed in the region so that more farmers can be encouraged to step up productivity,” said Elame.

 

Elame said he will suggest to his boss that more farm inputs/subsidies be given to farmers. Lots of subsidies should be given to farmers. “When Cameroon was giving subsidies to farmers, we were one of the leading countries in cocoa and coffee production, and many other crops but today we know that most of our food crops are becoming economic/cash crops because they generate a lot of income.”

 

In addition, Elame said he would suggest that a transforming factory be established to ensure the transformation of agricultural products produced in the region.

This, according to Eleme, would add value to agricultural products and generate more jobs for the youths.

 

The Sub-divisional Delegate believes that if the new minister implements his proposals as well as put in place a system to enable young people develop interest in the agricultural sector, then the issue of food insecurity in the region will in the nearest future be history.