Vulnerable displaced persons

Livelihood support is key to improving food security

Food Security

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The insecurity in the Northern regions of the country as well as the two English speaking regions has greatly affected food security and livelihoods Cameroonians.

The socio-political unrest has led to the displacement of people which in turn limits access to fields and livelihoods. This situation, coupled with the challenging humanitarian access to certain localities and low coverage of food assistance due to a lack of resources has led to a nutritional and acute food insecurity situation (crisis) among the displaced and vulnerable populations in urban, peri-urban, and bush areas. The humanitarian needs overview 2021 drafted by OCHA in several regions reveals that much still needs to be done in getting Cameroonians out of the food crisis.

According to the results of the analysis carried out by the Cadre Harmonisé from October to December 2020, 2.7 million people are in acute food insecurity in Cameroon, representing 10% of the total population.

Food insecurity is highest in the North-West, South-West, Far North, Littoral, and Adamawa regions. According to the national survey on nutrition and food security (ENSAN) from September 2020, the NorthWest (40%), South-West (30.7%), Littoral (25.1%), Far-North (24.8%), Adamawa (22.1%), and the West (20.5%) are the most affected by food insecurity in September 2020.

This precarious livelihood situation is also reflected by their lack of ownership of land to cultivate. Only 1.6 percent of women own a land title in their name.

Access to a plot does not allow them to have control over it, as they have limited opportunities to assert their rights. International organizations like the World Food Program, WFP, have played major roles in ensuring food security in some regions of Cameroon. In 2018 and 2019 WFP supported 1.6 million people, meeting acute food needs and reaching 89 percent of planned beneficiaries through food distributions and 77 percent through CBTs. At the outcome level, household coping strategy index scores increased, but improvements in diversity scores were mixed.

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