Over 1 in 2 Cameroonian is Food insecure - FAOSTAT
According to FAO Data, approximately 17.7 million out of 30 million Cameroonians cannot access affordable and nutritious food that is essential to support a healthy life, reliably and consistently
First, what does it mean to be food insecure?
Food insecurity should not be mistaken for hunger; hunger is only a manifestation of food insecurity. In context, food insecurity means being unsure about obtaining food, reducing the quantity, quality, or variety of food and, in severe cases, completely running out of food.
It is caused by several factors that can be roughly grouped into three: economic, physical, and biological, and sometimes, it is a devastating combination of the three.
When someone faces food insecurity due to physical factors, a variety of nutritious foods may be inaccessible because they are not available in the person’s immediate environment. This is commonly a consequence of supply chain failures, possibly due to extreme weather events (floods, droughts, etc.), natural disasters, conflicts or sudden policy shifts. For instance, 2016-2018 was a bleak period of crisis in Cameroon, particularly in the Southwest and Northwest regions. According to FAOSTAT, the local food system was at its most vulnerable, with a very high fluctuation in the daily amount of food or calories available to people. A person may also lack physical access to food as a result of geographical isolation, where a community or group of people are cut off from the outside world and, as such, eat whatever is available, even if it is not nutritionally adequate. There is also living in a food desert, with a sparse food environment where food cannot be easily procured. Mobility issues may also be a cause of food insecurity, especially among people who are physically challenged and need help moving around.
Biologically, food insecurity can occur even when food does not meet nutritional needs, even when it seems physically abundant. For example, around 38% of Cameroonian women of reproductive age have anaemia. In this case, hunger may be generally absent, but the food does not meet the body’s iron needs. This also exposes a current reality in urban and semi-urban Cameroon with the double burden of malnutrition, where obesity and nutrient deficiencies coexist. Further, the body needs to be efficient in utilising the nutrients derived from food. The presence of a health condition may result in a lack of appetite and lower absorption of nutrients. Additionally, the environment is also crucial. Around 47% of Cameroonians still lack access to clean water and sanitation, leading to recurrent diseases that interfere with nutrient absorption.
The economic face of food insecurity focuses on food affordability and purchasing power. At the microlevel, lower-income households or those with unstable employment may need to reduce the quality and variety of food to survive. At the macro level, food price inflation, economic downturns, and reliance on imports are exacerbating food insecurity nationwide.
So who exactly is food insecure?
Households or individuals who are food insecure often report the following conditions:
Being worried that food would run out before they can restock
Food does not last or is hardly enough
Inability to afford a balanced meal
Reducing the size of their meals, skipping a meal, eating less than they feel they should, being hungry but not eating, losing weight or not eating for a whole day due to resource constraints.
Sources
FAOSTAT CAMEROON. https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#country/32
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