In Cameroon, during a conference held in Yaoundé on 12 December, Gabriel Mbairobe, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (Minader), revealed an alarming food security situation in Cameroon. According to the results of the Harmonised Framework for the Identification of Zones at Risk, more than three million people, or almost eleven per cent of the population, have been facing food and nutritional insecurity since October and will continue to do so until December 2024.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Gabriel Mbairobe, has revealed an alarming food security situation in Cameroon. The situation has deteriorated considerably compared to 2023. Some 265,000 of the worst affected citizens are in a critical emergency situation requiring immediate intervention. To date, the government counts 2,800,000 people in a food crisis situation.
Despite last year’s harvest and off season crops, prices have not fallen as usual. This is having a negative impact on the replenishment of national stock and availability of food for vulnerable households.
GABRIEL MBAIROBE, Minister of Agriculture – Cameroon
The Minister calls for measures to be taken to improve and strengthen technical and financial support targeting vulnerable populations. Priority must be given to affected populations, i.e. 3,080,145 people in the current period and 2,700,000 people in the projected period. The aim is to anticipate the deterioration in their food and nutrition situation during the period October-December 2024 and June-August 2025.
Under the supervision of the PM head of government, we are committed to do everything to protect the livelihoods of our population and provide an emergency response to the targeted population. To this end the government has implemented the import substitution policy, which focuses mainly on supporting the price of fertiliser and pesticides.
GABRIEL MBAIROBE, Minister of Agriculture – Cameroon
According to MINADER, extreme weather conditions are at the root of this crisis, particularly in the northern part of the country. Drought and flooding have seriously disrupted the agricultural season. In the departments of Bénoué and Mayo-Louti, a severe drought hit the region, causing the rains to stop for 28 consecutive days in August 2024.
