Malnutrition / Cameroon: March 2010

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Cameroon; Geography and History

Geography
Cameroon is a Central African nation on the Gulf of Guinea, bordered by Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. It is nearly twice the size of Oregon. Mount Cameroon (13,350 ft; 4,069 m), near the coast, is the highest elevation in the country. The main rivers are the Benue, Nyong, and Sanaga.

Governement

After a 1972 plebiscite, a unitary republic was formed out of East and West Cameroon to replace the former federal republic.

History

Bantu speakers were among the first groups to settle Cameroon, followed by the Muslim Fulani in the 18th and 19th centuries. The land escaped colonial rule until 1884, when treaties with tribal chiefs brought the area under German domination. After World War I, the League of Nations gave the French a mandate over 80% of the area, and the British 20% adjacent to Nigeria. After World War II, when the country came under a UN trusteeship in 1946, self-government was granted, and the Cameroon People's Union emerged as the dominant party by campaigning for reunification of French and British Cameroon and for independence. Accused of being under Communist control, the party waged a campaign of revolutionary terror from 1955 to 1958, when it was crushed. In British Cameroon, unification was also promoted by the leading party, the Kamerun National Democratic Party, led by John Foncha.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Summary note on malnutrition in Cameroon

. During the previous decades, due to increasing poverty, the Republic of Cameroon have moved from food autonomous to food deficient country. Mainly due to unmastering rapid growth of the population and inadequate planning of productivity. Also, the political instability of the neighboring countries has led to a massive entry of refugees from Chad and Central Africa Republic particularly threathened by the malnutrition. So the North part of Cameroon, already facing poverty, low agricultural technology and drought have had to oberserved a massive immigration of their chadian counterpart more less affluent. The same move was observed in the East part of Cameroon in the bordering of Central African Republic. In these areas, the northern and the eastern part of the country, the phenomenon is widely spread and involves the entire community wheras in the the rest of the country the phenomenon is sparsed and involves specially rare families with very low income. As a response, the country has launched a programe.The two components are:
Food assistance to primary schools in the extreme north and Adamaoua Regions. This activity cover the Regions in the north where access to education poses an economic problem for the most under-privileged households and is reflected in the enrolment rates, which are lower than 30 percent. A total of 53 000 students each year receive daily meals, and take-home food rations will be distributed to families who allow their daughters to attend the last three grades of the primary school cycle. Food security and rural development in the extreme north and north Regions. Targeting the two most food insecure Regions, this activity is aimed at fighting the deficit that results from cereal speculation and at ensuring food production, a task that is traditionally assumed by women. The activity comprises the building and management of 200 cereal granaries of 20 and 40 tons each, which is entrusted mainly to women’s groups and the construction of 96 hydro-agricultural works and rural access roads through Food for Work activities.
Emergency Food Assistance to Central African and Chadian refugees: There are two refugee caseloads in Cameroon: a group from the Central African Republic which started arriving in 2005, and a group from Chad which arrived from 1 February 2008. WFP is providing monthly rations through general food distribution to refugees, and vulnerable groups will also be targeted through nutritional ad therapeutic feeding centres.
The objective of the operation is to save lives and protect livelihoods in emergency situations. The main outcomes will be reduced acute malnutrition and mortality in the refugee populations. WFP will also provide support to selective feeding programmes targeting malnourished children under 5 and pregnant and lactating women for both refugees and host population.
The School Meals project is implemented only in the local public community schools of the rural areas in the northern provinces. In cooperation with the country office, the Ministry of Basic Education coordinates the implementation strategy at both central and regional levels.
For the cereal banks and Food for Work, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development oversees the monitoring and coordination of activities and the selection of beneficiaries. Technical support for the construction and management of granaries is provided by experienced NGOs (both national and international).
A participatory approach makes it possible for beneficiaries to be involved in the different stages of the planning and implementation process, on the basis of their needs, priorities and objectives.
See WFP/UNESCO report here

Friday, March 26, 2010

UNICEF Leading actor against the silent emergency in Cameroon

UNICEF Roaving Ambassador MIA FARROW Among Central African refugees in the East Region of Cameroon. Visiting a nutritional centre in the small village of Bazzama in september 2009, she observed the silent emergency

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Short list of Surveys , articles on malnutrition in Cameroon

1. The Government of Cameroon. United republic of Cameroon national nutrition survey. Washington, D.C.: USAID, 1978.

2. Mendoza Aldana J, Piechulek H. Situation nutritionnelle des enfants de 0 à 59 mois en zone urbaine et rurale du Cameroun. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 1992;70:725-732.

3. Balépa M, Fotso M, Barrère B. Enquête démographique et de santé Cameroun, 1991. Demographic and Health Surveys. Yaoundé, République du Cameroun, 1992 (andadditional analysis).

4. Fotso M, Ndonou R, Libité PR, Tsafack M, Wakou R, Ghapoutsa A, et al. Enquete démographique et de santé, Cameroun 1998. Demographic and Health Surveys. Calverton, Maryland, U.S.A. : Bureau Central des Recensements et des Études de Population et Macro International Inc., 1999 (and additional analysis).

5. Institut National de la Statistique (INS) et ORC Macro. Enquête démographique et de santé du Cameroun 2004. Demographic and Health Surveys. Calverton, Maryland, USA: INS et ORC Macro, 2004.

6. Delpeuch F, Cornu A, Chevalier P. Detection of moderate protein-energy malnutrition in pre-school children. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 1980; 74:192-196.

7. Delpeuch F, Cornu A, Chevalier P. [Influence de la malnutrition protéino-énergétique modérée des enfants d'âge préscolaire sur quelques variables biochimiques]. Annales de la Nutrition et l'Alimentation 1979;33:429-441.

8. Cornu A, Delpeuch F, Chevalier P. [The nutritional status and growth in the first two years of life in Yaounde]. Archives Francaises de Pediatrie 1980; 37:125-129.

9. Pongou Roland, Majid Ezzati, Salomon JA. Household and community socioeconomic and environmental determinants of child nutritional status in Cameroon. BMC Public Health. 2006; 6: 98

10. Truswell AS. ABC of nutrition. Malnutrition in the third world—II. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed). 1985 August 31; 291(6495): 587-589