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Cameroon + 2 more

GIEWS Country Brief: Cameroon 09-November-2018

Attachments

FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT

  • Below-average crop prospects for 2018 cropping season in Far North, Northwest and Southwest regions due to conflict

  • Prices of maize stabilized due to recent harvests, inflows from Nigeria and ongoing food assistance

  • Alarming food insecurity conditions persist in Far North, Northwest and Southwest regions due to refugee influx and internal displacements

Below-average crop prospects for 2018 cropping season in Far North, Northwest and Southwest regions

Harvesting of the main 2018 season maize crop has just been finalized in bi-modal rainfall areas of the centre and south. According to satellite imagery, rainfall amounts have been adequate since the onset of the season in March benefitting crop development and yields. In the uni-modal rainfall areas of the North, where harvesting of the sorghum and millet crops is still underway, despite favourable weather conditions, the production prospects are uncertain due to civil insecurity. Planting of the second season maize crops was concluded in late September in the southern part of the country and crops are currently developing normally.

In the Far North Region, agricultural operations continue to be affected by civil unrest, which spread from neighbouring Nigeria in late 2014. Moreover, in the Northwest and Southwest Anglophone regions, the civil unrest that erupted in October 2016 has since deteriorated significantly resulting in input shortages and depleted households’ productive assets, including livestock. As a result, the 2018 aggregate output is preliminarily estimated at below average levels.

Prices of maize stabilized in recent months

According to the International Monetary Fund, inflation is forecast to remain around 1 percent in 2018, similar to the previous two years. The low inflation rates are due, to some extent, to the implementation of a tighter monetary policy (raising interest rates to slow down economic growth) as well as the adoption of the CFA Franc currency, which leads to less expensive and increased imports from neighbouring countries and consequent significant downward pressure on domestic food supplies and prices. As a result of significant inflows of maize from Nigeria in the Far North Region via the Bourha and Mogodé corridors, supplies from the recent harvests as well as the ongoing delivery of food assistance, maize prices are relatively stable compared to last year.

Escalation of conflict in North and Southwest regions is expected to aggravate an already alarming food security situation

In the Northwest and Southwest regions, the ongoing crisis erupted in October 2016 due to perceived marginalization and resistance to the assimilation of the English-speaking minority to the French-speaking majority. The country’s election process was finalized at the end of October. Following the election, the conflict situation is likely to significantly worsen in the Northwest and Southwest Anglophone regions. The potential escalation of violence is expected to have a severe negative impact on food security. The crisis has led to the displacement of about 450 000 people. The overall food security situation has sharply deteriorated with a substantial and increasing number of households resorting to negative coping strategies.

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