Only 4 percent of women own land - Gov’t official

The Technical Adviser N0.1 in the Ministry of Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development, Justice Prudence Galega, has regretted that only 4 percent of women in Cameroon have access to land resources.

She made the remark while chairing a roundtable discussion on the theme, “Women equal access to natural resources and the protection of the environment” in Yaounde on March 2.

The occasion was part of activities marking the celebration of the 30th edition of the International Women’s Day hinged on the theme: “Implementation of the Beijing platform for Action in Cameroon, Assessment and Prospects”.

Participants at the conference were drawn from women’s groups from the ten regions of the country. They harped on the fact that only few women have access to natural resources, a situation that remains a bane to the country’s development.

It was in this perspective that Justice Galega disclosed regrettably that only 4 percent of women have access to land in Cameroon. She further revealed that 70 percent of the poor in the world are women because they are not part of decision-making processes and lack access to natural resources.

She said it was ironical that 2/3 of women are those who produce food, but only receive 10 percent of the revenue generated from it.

“We think that women need more access to land because it is on this land that women work, especially the rural women, to feed their families. When we talk about women’s limited access to natural resources, we are looking at resources that drive livelihood in terms of food, health and resources that drive development,” the Government official stated.

She said there is a strong link between women, the environment and development, arguing that there cannot be any sustainable development in a country if women do not have equal access to natural resources.

“This roundtable seeks to sensitize with all the women in the 10 regions on the need to access critical areas in terms of resources where women are not fully involved”, she explained.

The official said the putting in place of policies, laws and a strategy for arresting the preoccupying situation was incumbent on the various stakeholders. “It means that we need to integrate women in the activities that we carry out, we need to involve women and take their opinion while taking decisions. We need to provide women with financial resources and with the natural resources, the land and access to trees.”

She posited that all stakeholders must work to grant women access to resources because they feed families and humanity in general.

The Technical Adviser said Cameroon has a legal framework in the environment that could arrest the situation but said the problem is at the level of the implementation.

Another impediment, she went on, is that the environment is not yet effectively mainstreamed in the agricultural, forestry, livestock and fisheries sectors.

Unless these instruments are mainstreamed into social instruments, she insisted, it would be difficult for the Ministry of Environment to succeed.

Another roadblock, she continued is that policies are not translated to meet the funding of women’s projects. She remarked that less than 40 percent of women access funding that will enable them carry out macro projects in the environment sector.

While analyzing this vision of the Beijing platform, the official said it calls on all nations of the world to ensure that they strengthen women’s access to natural resources.

“Women’s access to land is a key issue and until Cameroon invests significantly in reversing the train development will continue to be hindered.