UN Official Recommends National Strategy for Food Security

Olivier De Schutter gave a press conference in Yaounde on Monday, July 23.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier De Schutter has enjoined the Cameroon government to develop a national strategy on the right to food, re-invest in local and peasant food production, better negotiate land concessions and respect legal frameworks. He made the declaration in Yaounde, yesterday, July 23 in a press conference at the end of a working visit to the country that started on July 16.

During his stay, Olivier de Schutter had working sessions with cabinet ministers and other senior government officials, visited the Far North, South and other parts of the country to assess the food security situation. He disclosed that over 33 per cent of Cameroonian children, especially in the northern part of the country face acute malnutrition. The UN senior official deployed the conditions of prisoners, inadequate attention paid to vulnerable indigenous peoples who are Pygmies, Mbororos and Kirds. He stated that over 60 per cent of the Cameroonian population live on peasant agriculture, livestock and fisheries, noting that over 40 per cent of the population live under the poverty line since 2001.

In order to remedy the situation, Olivier De Schutter made pertinent recommendations contained in a report whose draft will be submitted to the Cameroon government and the final copy presented during the 22nd UN Human Rights Council session in March 2013.