Post-electoral tensions exacerbate countrywide high food prices

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Prolonged conflict, insecurity, and rising food prices — intensified by post-electoral tensions — are expected to drive Stressed (IPC Phase 2) and Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes across the Far North, Northwest, Southwest and Adamawa regions, as well as in the urban centers of Yaoundé and Douala through at least May 2026. Food assistance needs are projected to increase, peaking between March and May during the southern zone’s lean season. Between November 2025 and May 2026, FEWS NET estimates that between 1.5-1.99 million people countrywide will require emergency food assistance.
Staple food prices remain significantly above the five-year average, driven by reduced supply from conflict-affected areas and increased fuel and transport costs, which continue to limit household purchasing power. FEWS NET monitoring data indicate slight-to-moderate food price increases during October and November, particularly in urban centers, driven by supply disruptions, higher transport tariffs, and artificial scarcity linked to post‑election protests from October 12-November 6. Notably, in Yaoundé and Douala, prices for maize, roots and tubers, palm oil, shelled groundnuts, and fresh cow meat increased by an average of 29.9 percent compared to September.
In the Northwest and Southwest regions, Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes are expected to remain widespread through at least May 2026, driven by high market dependence following depleted household stocks, rising staple food prices, and constrained household purchasing power. Persistent clashes between separatists and government forces, coupled with political tensions in October and November, further disrupted market supply and contributed to moderate price increases. In Bamenda’s urban market, maize prices in November rose 13 percent compared to September, averaging 25 and 13 percent above the five‑year average and last year, respectively. Households in highly insecure and remote areas of Donga‑Mantung, Momo, Bui, Lebialem, and Menchum divisions face more severe conflict impacts and eroded coping capacities, with a small but growing proportion likely to deteriorate into Emergency (IPC Phase 4) outcomes during the lean season.
In the Far North Region, Stressed (IPC Phase 2) outcomes will persist in Logone‑et‑Chari, Mayo Sava, and Mayo Tsanaga divisions through January 2026, deteriorating to Crisis (IPC Phase 3) between February and May. Households will likely have critically low food stocks by February following below‑average harvests, forcing most to rely almost entirely on markets for food. Protracted insurgent attacks, compounded by localized post‑electoral protests in October and November 2025, disrupted market supply in affected areas. Overall, cereal prices in northern markets have trended downward since May, primarily due to reduced exports to Nigeria following the depreciation of the NGN against the XAF. Despite this decline in food prices, purchasing power among conflict-affected households remains constrained, primarily due to reduced incomes stemming from the disruption of key income sources (notably agricultural labor and sales, livestock trade, and fish sales). As a result, large food consumption gaps are expected to persist, with households resorting to negative coping strategies such as reducing meal size and frequency and non‑food expenditures. A small proportion of households with severely eroded coping capacity are likely to face Emergency (IPC Phase 4) outcomes through at least May 2026.
Stressed (IPC Phase 2) food security outcomes are expected to persist in Yaoundé and Douala through at least May 2026. Very poor households, particularly refugees and internally displaced persons, are likely to deteriorate into Crisis (IPC Phase 3), as already high food prices increase with the lean season and are compounded by severely limited income‑earning opportunities.
In refugee‑hosting areas of Adamawa (Mberé) and East (Kadey, Lom‑et‑Djerem), Stressed (IPC Phase 2) outcomes will persist through May 2026, with some very poor refugee households likely to face Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes. Intense competition for jobs and natural resources are sustaining low incomes relative to high staple food prices. As the March to May lean season approaches, rising prices and increased market dependence are expected to further erode purchasing power, driving households to adopt negative coping strategies to secure cash for food.

Recommended citation: FEWS NET. Cameroon Key Message Update November 2025: Post-electoral tensions exacerbate countrywide high food prices, 2025.

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.