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Cameroon’s most recent household survey (ECAM III), undertaken in 2007, revealed that poverty affected an estimated 39.9 per cent of the population, compared with 40.2 per cent in 2001, and that 55 per cent of the country’s poor people live in rural areas. The ECAM III survey also found that significant disparities in poverty trends had emerged between 2001 and 2007. In urban areas, poverty showed a marked decline – of some 5 points – particularly in the cities of Douala and Yaoundé. In contrast, in rural areas, poverty had grown by 3 points, especially in the northern regions. In Cameroon, poverty continues to be fundamentally a rural phenomenon.

Women and children are particularly hard-hit: 52 per cent of people in poor households are women, and half the members of poor households are under 15 years of age. According to ECAM III, only 18 per cent of rural women have secondary-level education, and women living in the north and far-north regions receive the least education (12 per cent and 14 per cent respectively). Employment for young people is a priority of the Government; the national institute for statistics estimates that seven out of ten of the country’s young people are under-employed (OMD, INS 2010).

The key factors identified by ECAM III as the causes of poverty are: household size, education level, socio-economic grouping and access to productive assets. Poor rural people believe that better living conditions would come from job creation, better communications and transportation, improved access to education and information, stable prices for staple foods and better healthcare, water and credit.
 

Source: IFAD