Public Agrarian Policies and Food Security in Cameroon: Problems and Challenges towards Agricultural Development

Abstract

The hunger riots that Cameroon experienced in February 2008 were on the one hand a local manifestation of the world food crisis (2007-2008) and on the other hand, a result of ineffective agricultural policies implemented since the 1960s. The analysis of public food security policies in Cameroon from 1960 to 2008, highlights the inability of the latter to fight effectively against food insecurity and to bring Cameroonian agriculture out of the rut. These riots were likely to have a long-term effect on Cameroon's socio-economic trajectory. Because they were food for thought for the Cameroonian government, which ended up realizing that the constraints facing agricultural development felt an immediate need for solutions after the end of the riots. The post-riot strategies implemented by the Cameroonian government boil down to all the measures taken to stem the impact of the crisis and allow food security to all social strata. However, these economic redistribution strategies adopted by the Cameroonian government to allow the poorest to have access to food at an affordable price still fail to stem the situation. Literature relating to the riots of February 2008 in Cameroon abounds, but little is concerned with the analysis of the causes and post-riot government strategies, which is very crucial to understanding the origins of the problems facing the Cameroonian agricultural community today. This article examines the distant and immediate causes of the February 2008 hunger riots in Cameroon, including the post-riot strategies implemented by the Cameroonian government to combat food insecurity and the contribution of international partners.