Farms everywhere, Cameroonians starving!.

It engaged farmers, start-ups, financial institutions and tech companies to chart a new path towards a secured, inclusive and resilient digital ecosystem to ameliorate agricultural production in Cameroon.

While opening the three-day conference, ANTIC Director General, Prof Ebot Ebot Enaw, described the forum as timely, given the vital role agriculture plays in the country’s economy.

He said it “employs a substantial share of the labour force, contributes approximately 16 to 18 percent of the country's GDP, and provides livelihoods for millions of Cameroonians, particularly in rural communities.”

The Guardian Post, relying on various data, notes that Cameroon has diverse climate, rich volcanic soils and 7.2 million hectares of arable land. 

Often called the “breadbasket” of Central Africa", it features multiple agro-ecological zones that are suitable for farming, throughout the year. 

Behind the cosy statistics, however lies food insecurity for millions of compatriots with some even starving or being unable to afford a single meal a day.

The Red Cross has painted a bleak picture for this year; indicating a country “facing a deepening food crisis, with 3.3 million people unable to afford enough food as conflict, climate shocks and rising prices push families toward emergency levels of hunger. 

Food stocks are depleted, leaving children and pregnant women at growing risk of malnutrition”.

A report released last week by the National Institute of Statistics, NIS, is even more gloomy as it noted that 4.5 million people have been identified in areas at-risk; between January and March, 2026; 1.8 million lived in Regions directly affected by conflict, while 2.6 million live in areas relatively spared from separatist agitations and Boko Haram attacks.

It disclosed that the affected populations face varying degrees of hunger severity and some experiencing persistent vulnerability.
The report added that the figures are a clear indication that food vulnerability cannot be explained solely by population displacement, insecurity or disruptions to economic activity caused by conflict.

The Cameroon Red Cross Society is even asking for donations, as it says it “is scaling up emergency food, cash, nutrition and livelihood support to reach 330,000 of the most vulnerable people. But urgent funding is needed to expand this response.”

The Red Cross has even launched an appeal for donations. As if heeding the plea, the government of Japan, on August 12, 2026, gave about 708,000,000 FCFA to support the United Nations World Food Programme, UNFP, to provide emergency food assistance to more than 13,000 refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, affected by food insecurity in Cameroon.

Through the contribution, the World Food Programme, WFP, will provide three months of in-kind food assistance; comprising rice, canned fish, vegetable oil and salt, to enable vulnerable households to meet their immediate food and nutrition needs.

“Hunger is often the first sign that families are running out of options,” said Gianluca Ferrera, WFP Representative and Country Director in Cameroon.      

“Food assistance not only saves lives; it helps families protect their livelihoods, preserve their dignity and avoid harmful coping strategies. Japan’s support comes at a critical time for thousands of vulnerable people,” he told reporters.

Last July, the Cameroon government, through the Ministry of Basic Education and the United Nations World Food Programme, signed a Euro 3.6 million contribution agreement.

 It is meant to provide daily nutritious meals to nearly 11,000 children in ten public Primary Schools, while creating market opportunities for 600 smallholder farmers through local food procurement.

“No child should have to learn on an empty stomach. Every school meal is an investment in education, nutrition and hope. This programme will help children concentrate in class, support families facing economic hardship and create opportunities for local farmers,” said Aboubacar Guindo, WFP Representative and Country Director ad interim in Cameroon.

With the use of the donation from this year to 2029, the initiative is said to help “improve children's nutrition, attendance and learning outcomes, while strengthening rural livelihoods and more resilient food systems in communities affected by food insecurity, displacement, climate shocks, and economic hardship”. 

To strengthen sustainability, the initiative will establish and train 10 school feeding management committees and provide technical support to farmer organisations and government stakeholders. 

More than 800 people, including committee members, farmers and government personnel, are expected to benefit from capacity-strengthening activities.

Currently, about 321,000 children benefit from school meals in Cameroon, which is approximately 11 percent of the 3 million pupils enrolled in public Primary Schools nationwide, highlighting the continued need to expand school feeding coverage.

The government of Cameroon has demonstrated commitment to expanding the school feeding coverage, with a target of one million children by 2030.

The WFP has indicated its willingness “to continue supporting this national effort”.

The million-dollar question is, why should Cameroon, with all the agricultural potentials, other abundant natural resources and sufficient manpower, be going cap in hand for food assistance from countries and international organisations, to feed its citizens, some internally displaced?

There is no gainsaying the fact that they would have been no food security, if the decade-long conflict in the North West and South West Regions, key agro-pastoral Regions, had been resolved.

What has become of the much-trumpeted slogans Green Revolution, New Generation Agriculture, Farmers Bank and now “Harnessing Digital Technologies for Sustainable Agricultural Transformation and Food Security in Cameroon?

Away from sloganeering, Cameroon, as independent research has shown over the years, needs “a multifaceted strategy for full food security, which includes social protection to ensure that food is safe and nourishing, particularly for children.

There is also the urgent need for transformation of food systems, to create a more sustainable and inclusive society,” without banking on dole outs from donors.

At The Guardian Post, we stand firmly by the saying that “a hungry man is an angry man,” who can wreak havoc on the government. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3881 of Monday August 17, 2026