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International humanitarian food aid in the north-south cooperation: the case of cameroon( Télécharger le fichier original )par Alain Christian Essimi Biloa La Sapienza University of Rome - Italy - Master 2014 |
A- The WFP country OfficeCameroonian government signed the agreement with the WFP on April 3, 1968. The office is located behind the Town Hall in Yaoundé. It has an antenna in Bertoua in the East Region, and a sub-office in Garoua in the North Region.
WFP Cameroon Country Office's Headquarters in Yaoundé. Picture: Author WFP works by five years plans. WFP's activities in Cameroon have three main components: supporting the basic education and enrolment of girls in school; promoting food security and rural development, mainly in the northern regions of the country; improving the nutritional status of the moderately acute malnourished children and pregnant and nursing women in the North region. During the previous program (2008-2012), in 2012, WFP aimed to reach 612,000 people through the following activities: the emergency operation for drought-affected households and acute malnourished group in the Far North region, protracted relief and recovery operation for refugees and host population in the East and Adamaoua regions, and school meals. 127 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 In December 2011 the Government of Cameroon declared an emergency situation in the Far North region of the country due to a major drop in cereal production following poor rainfall, aggravating the already severe situation in the region which suffers from chronic food insecurity and structural poverty. In the Logone-and-Chari division, over 400,000 people are affected by the decrease in food production. In response to a request for relief assistance by the government of Cameroon, WFP initiated an emergency operation aiming to: firstly, improve the food consumption of people affected by drought through general food distributions; secondly, reduce the prevalence of acute malnutrition among children 6-59 months of age and malnourished pregnant and lactating women through targeted supplementary feeding; thirdly, prevent acute malnutrition among chronic malnourished children 6-23 months of age and pregnant and nursing women through blanket supplementary feeding. The emergency operation aimed to reach 258,000 people. The protracted relief and recovery operation aims to save lives and protect livelihoods of food-insecure Central African and Chadian refugees and restore and rebuild lives and livelihoods of Central African refugees and host populations. It targets more than 186,000 people through activities that aim to improve resilience of food-insecure refugees and local households, with an emphasis on environmental protection and rehabilitation activities to enhance sustainability. In the area of nutrition, the protracted relief and recovery operation aims to stabilize global acute malnutrition rate below 10%. In this context, the strategy will continue addressing the immediate needs while also building the human and physical assets of host communities and refugees for long-term recovery. Monthly general food distributions are planned for 2,600 Chadian refugees in the North region and 40,700 Central African refugees in the East and Adamaoua regions. A supplementary feeding program is currently addressing the nutritional needs of children below five, 128 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 pregnant and nursing mothers amongst Central African Refugees and host population. During the 2011/2012 school year, WFP provided food assistance to over 25,000 students from 109 government primary schools in rural areas in Adamaoua, North and Far North regions. The students received daily hot meals for 165 school days, with a total of 914,438 metric tons of food. The food basket included rice, pulses, oil, iodized salt and maize. In addition, about 4,000 girls from these schools received family take-home rations in order to motivate their parents to keep sending their daughters to school. The current 2013-2017 country office programme (CP)52 is based on the DSCE and the national sectoral strategies for education, rural development and nutrition, and is aligned with United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). Its objectives are to: - promote primary education, with particular emphasis on girls; reduce micronutrient deficiencies in school-age children; and strengthen the capacity of government and other cooperating partners in school feeding (design, management and sustainability of the school feeding programme); - increase the food security of households and mitigate the effects of climate shocks by improving access to food through the implementation of social protection safety nets and sustainable management of community grain stocks; - reduce the prevalence of moderate acute malnutrition among children between the ages of 6 and 59 months, and in pregnant and lactating women; and 52 This country programme has been submitted and approved on a no-objection basis by the WFP Executive Board during it Second Regular Session held at Rome from 12 to 16 November 2012. More details are available on http://one.wfp.org/operations/current_operations/project_docs/200330.pdf. 129 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 - strengthen national capacities for the prevention and management of malnutrition through a hand-over strategy. The programme will contribute to achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDG) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 753 and Strategic Objectives 2, 4 and 554 and is organized around the following three components: ? Component 1: Promote primary education, particularly for girls This component is done in collaboration with the Ministry of Basic Education (MINEDUB). The objective of this component is to increase enrolment and retention rates through the end of primary school, particularly for girls, and to reduce micronutrient deficiencies in school-age children. The component focuses on the districts within the North and Far-North regions that have the worst food insecurity and have gross enrolment rates, primary school completion rates and girl/boy ratios below the regional average. The school feeding programme also has a nutritional objective, since the prevalence of anaemia in children under 5 is 68.2 percent in the North and 63.5 percent in the Far-North. On average, 55,000 students per year in 250 rural schools will be targeted in these two regions. The schools will be selected according to the criteria established in the school feeding programme guidelines.55 To encourage girls' enrolment through the end of the primary school, 6,500 girls in intermediate grades 1 and 2, selected on the basis of their attendance rate, will receive 25 kg of maize per quarter. In collaboration with 53 MDGs: 1-Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; 2-Achieve universal primary education; 3- Promote gender equality and empower women; 4-Reduce child mortality; 5-Improve maternal health; 7-Ensure environmental sustainability. 54 Strategic Objectives: 2-Prevent acute hunger and invest in disaster preparedness and mitigation measures; 4-Reduce chronic hunger and undernutrition; 5-Strengthen the capacities of countries to reduce hunger, including through hand-over strategies and local purchase. 55 Schools are targeted according to the following criteria: i) enrolment rate less than 40 percent; ii) public schools in rural areas; iii) schools providing the full educational curriculum with fewer than 40 percent girls; iv) a maximum of 325 students; v) food-insecure areas where communities are involved; and vi) presence of basic infrastructure. 130 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Population Fund, the World Bank, the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development and partner NGOs such as Plan International and Counterpart International, WFP will make efforts to improve the school environment, through access to clean water and sanitation, deworming, nutrition education, environmental conservation, and community ownership of school activities. Starting in school year 2017/18, WFP will supply only technical assistance, while the Government ensures full provisioning of the school feeding programme. ? Component 2: Improve household food security by enhancing resilience to recurrent climatic shocks The component is coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MINADER) as the technical partner, while the implementation is carried out with the assistance from experienced NGOs. Component 2 is designed to reduce communities' food insecurity and enhance their resilience to climate shocks and the effects of market speculation, by implementing community grain storage facilities. These village grain stocks are one element in the rapid response system for dealing with food crises - part of the national early warning system and the Grain Department's emergency reserves. The grain storage facilities will make it possible to: i) establish community grain reserves to improve access to food; ii) slow the rise in grain prices during the lean season; iii) improve rural people's incomes from agricultural production; and iv) enhance women's participation in community activities and their ability to manage and conserve assets. 131 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 ? Component 3: Provide nutritional support for vulnerable groups In partnership with the Ministry of Public Health (MINSANTE), Component 3 is designed to support the Government's efforts to address moderate acute malnutrition by providing a supplementary food targeted to children aged 6-59 months and pregnant and lactating women. Initially the component will cover the Far-North, which suffers from acute and chronic malnutrition rates above critical thresholds, although if resources permit it will expand its coverage to the North. In parallel, UNICEF will support the Government in tackling severe acute malnutrition. In addition to training stakeholders, WFP and UNICEF support will include nutritional inputs and equipment. Collaboration between the two agencies will include a review of food and nutrition sector strategies and management protocols, and assistance in planning activities for the nutrition programme. The programme will target the North and Far-North regions of the country, where food insecurity rates are high and school enrolment rates are low, particularly for girls in rural areas and where acute and chronic malnutrition rates exceed critical thresholds. WFP will continue to provide food assistance, since it has not yet established partnerships with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and financial institutions to carry out cash transfers. However, this decision may be reviewed once a planned feasibility study on cash transfers has been carried out. 132 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014
Through the three components, employing a hand-over strategy, WFP will work to develop the Government's capacity to fight hunger and malnutrition. As part of government efforts to increase agricultural production, WFP will increase local purchases, mainly through producers' groups and programmes designed to boost production. 56 Source: WFP Executive Board, Country programme Cameroon 200330 (2013-2017), p.10. 133 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014
Government's contribution represents the cost of 7,500 mt of food donated by the Government (74%) and the cost of secondary transport of foods (26%). In principle, the contribution will be distributed as follows: 500 mt per year for Component 1 and 1,000 mt per year for Component 2. This distribution may, however, be adjusted based on need. Cameroonian government also created a committee which could be seen as the governmental interlocutor with the UN agencies dealing with IFA. 57 Source: WFP Executive Board, Country programme Cameroon 200330 (2013-2017), p.18. 134 International humanitarian food aid in the North-South cooperation: the case of Cameroon 2014 |
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