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- Area-level Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes are expected through September in the most conflict-affected divisions of the Far North: Logone-et-Chari, Mayo-Sava, and Mayo-Tsanaga. Insurgent activities have hindered agricultural and pastoral activities, limiting seasonal labor opportunities and wages and driving below-average harvests. Localized flooding in Logone-et-Chari in July and August has further limited access to food and income. During the peak lean season, many poor households are likely selling productive assets to purchase staple foods amidst high food prices. From October to January, seasonal improvements in food availability and access from the main harvest are expected to facilitate improvements to area-level Stressed (IPC Phase 2) outcomes. Poor households will deplete their food stocks atypically early and must purchase most of their food with reduced agricultural incomes. High food and transportation costs will further limit their ability to repay debts accumulated during the last several years of conflict. Many poor households in the most insecure areas will remain in Crisis (IPC Phase 3), and a small proportion will likely experience Emergency (IPC Phase 4) outcomes.
- Despite poor and sporadic rains at the start of the May to September rainy season in northern Cameroon, rainfall has improved. According to CHIRPS rainfall data as of the first dekad of August, most areas in Logone-et-Chari, Mayo-Sava, Mayo-Danay, and Mayo-Tsanaga and Diamaré divisions have received 105 to 145 percent of average seasonal cumulative precipitation. Main season cultivation of sorghum, maize, millet, and legumes is underway in the country's northern zone, with most cereal crops currently in the reproductive phase. Overall, current crop conditions appear favorable despite below-average rainfall in the North region. Information from key informants does suggest that in localized areas, farmers have had to replant sorghum crops that withered due to poor and erratic rains at the start of the season. It should be noted that the most pressing constraint on agricultural production in Cameroon remains conflict-related declines in area cultivated, currently estimated to be between 20-30 percent in the Far North.
- In the Northwest and Southwest regions, the main harvest of maize, beans, legumes, cassava, and cocoyams is in its second month. Although harvests have been below average due to conflict-related declines in cultivated areas, the seasonal increase in food availability and agricultural incomes has temporarily improved food access for households residing in relatively more secure and productive areas, facilitating improvements to Stressed (IPC Phase 2) outcomes from July through September. However, in more remote and insecure divisions such as Lebialem, Momo, and Menchum, where production declines are estimated to be more significant, household food consumption remains marginal, and many households are likely to continue resorting to coping strategies such as buying food on credit or selling remaining assets. Given an early depletion of household stocks, increasing food prices, and low household purchasing capacities, the Northwest and Southwest regions are expected to face area-level Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes from October 2024 to January 2025. A small number of households in hard-to-reach areas who have been repeatedly displaced will likely face Emergency (IPC Phase 4) outcomes.
- Since July, food prices across most of Cameroon have been stabilizing or decreasing in most rural markets. However, food prices remain 20-45 percent higher than the five-year average nationwide and moderately higher than last year due to increased importation costs, elevated fuel prices and transportation costs, and conflict-related disruptions in food supply chains. Despite government efforts to reduce wholesale prices of imported rice in April, retail prices have not fallen in any markets monitored by FEWS NET. As of mid-August, retail prices of imported rice remained 20-30 percent higher than in 2020. In the Northwest and Southwest regions, below-average harvests are leading to unusually high household demand and reduced seasonal supplies, resulting in limited typical seasonal price declines. By contrast, food prices have been increasing each month in the Far North region as the lean season progresses. Between July and mid-August, sorghum and maize prices rose by 7-10 percent, with a 17-20 percent increase compared to last year.
- Food assistance needs will likely remain high even post-harvest due to the compounded impacts of ongoing conflict and insecurity, high food prices, and seasonal flooding. Conflict and flood-affected households are expected to face Crisis (IPC Phase 3) or worse levels of acute food insecurity through January 2025. While WFP and its partners plan to continue providing life-saving emergency food and nutrition assistance to internally displaced persons (IDP), host, and refugee populations in Adamawa, East, Far, North, Northwest, and Southwest regions, total needs remain significantly higher than planned assistance levels. A further scaling-down of beneficiaries or ration sizes is likely due to funding limitations. In May, 143,332 people received humanitarian food assistance in 10 out of 13 divisions in the Northwest and Southwest regions, representing less than 10 percent of the total population of any analyzed division, and levels of assistance remain insufficient to mitigate area-level Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes.
Recommended citation: FEWS NET. Cameroun Mise à jour des messages clés Août 2024 - Janvier 2025: La période de soudure et les besoins annuels d'assistance atteignent leur apogée dans les zones de conflit de l’Extrême-Nord, 2024.
This Key Message Update provides a high-level analysis of current acute food insecurity conditions and any changes to FEWS NET's latest projection of acute food insecurity outcomes in the specified geography. Learn more here.