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Rural poverty approaches, policies & strategies in Cameroon

In 1996, against the backdrop of the economic crisis from 1985 to 1994, Cameroon’s government launched a three-year economic and financial reform programme (1997-2000) in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Operation (PRGO) programme. Building on the results achieved under these reforms, Cameroon then benefited from another international initiative, the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Following a second economic reform programme (2001-2002), in 2003 Cameroon adopted a poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP), and in April 2006 reached the HIPC completion point.
 
Cameroon’s current development policy is outlined in the PRSP, the main thrusts and objectives of which are inspired by the Millennium Development Goals. The objectives set by the government to consolidate economic growth in recent years to achieve sustainable development include:  

• promoting a sound private sector, giving priority to small-scale operators
• taking into account the needs and demands of the population
• combating rural poverty
• ensuring food security
• promoting non-traditional exports
• developing production methods that are economically viable and environmentally friendly

Efforts to combat poverty centre on the agricultural sector. The government has developed a rural sector development strategy (RSDS) that has the aims of:

• modernizing the production apparatus, giving priority to food security and modernizing traditional family farming
• restructuring the institutional framework in the context of decentralization and local development, to mobilize human and financial resources and enable rural people to take charge of their own development
• improving incentives by introducing legislation and regulations that favour private-sector development
• achieving sustainable development of natural resources
• promoting research on market opportunities for agricultural products
• promoting employment for rural women and young people

Source: IFAD