In the far north of the country there is a constant shortage of food and the number of people suffering from malnutrition is alarming

 

 

The far north of Cameroon is a land of internal conflict, violence, human rights violations, a collapsing economy, hunger, and a consequent increase in humanitarian needs. About 1,6 million people need assistance, most of them minors, and the food shortage throughout the territory is a continuous threat to the survival of the population. The activities of armed groups are characterised by deliberate violence, raids on villages, and destruction of property, and they are causing deaths and injuries in communities.

 

All this makes the daily life of the population in the departments of Mayo-Sava, Mayo-Tsanaga and Logone et Chari particularly risky. There is a shortage of food and the number of people suffering from malnutrition is alarming and increasingly requires intervention by humanitarian organisations working in the area.

 

Focusing on food security

 

INTERSOS, operative in this region of Cameroon since 2015, is making food security one of its priority objectives. Families affected by the conflict in the north-western and south-western regions mainly feed themselves with the few products available, such as cereals, whose availability, however, is decreasing due to years of poor harvests. For this reason, it is expected that, with rising food prices, poor families in these regions will probably not be able to provide more than one meal a day, and an increase in the number of people affected by a serious food crisis (IPC Phase 3) could be expected.

 

INTERSOS aid workers, as part of a project funded by the USAID Office of Humanitarian Assistance, are conducting training on agricultural food preservation in addition to food distribution in remote areas.

 

 Training on how to preserve food

 

Using quick and easy-to-use vehicles such as tricycles, food products are transported to different parts of the region. To reduce producers’ post-harvest losses, INTERSOS staff conducted a theoretical and practical training session on food processing and preservation for farmers in Logone et Chari, Mayo-Sava and Mayo-Tsanaga departments. Some 375 families benefited from the project.

 

In March, activities focused on monitoring the harvest of vegetable gardens (onions, tomatoes, lettuce and other types of vegetables) and on the construction of ten wells in the sites of Marouare, Babou, Kawadji, Bourgouma 2, Maham, Ngaoupata, Kekawa, Abari, Amchulga.