Report No. 13167-CM Cameroon Diversity, Growth, and Poverty Reduction April 4, 1995 Population and Human Resources Division Central and Indian Ocean Department Africa Regional Office Documnt of te World Bank FL C CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS Currency Unit = CFA Franc (CFAF) * US$1 = CFAF 577 (1994) US$1 = CFAF 290 (1993) US$S = CFAF 380 (1983) WEIGHTS AND MEASURES Metric System ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ASAFE Association pour la Promotion de la Femme Entrepreneur CAMSUCO Cameroon Sugar Development Company CDC Cameroon Development Corporation CDHS Cameroon Demographic and Health Survey (1991) CRAN Center for Food and Nutrition Research DSCN Directorate of Statistics and National Accounts ECM Yaounde Consumption Survey (1993) ELSR Enquete Legere de Suivi des Revenus (Yaounde), 1994. ERC Economic Recovery Credit FAFCAM Federation of Cameroonian Womens Associations FIMAC Fonds d'Investissements pour les Micro-Realisations Agricoles et Communautaires (Agricultural and Community Micro-Project Fund) FNE Fonds National de l'Emploi (National Employment Fund) HEVECAM Rubber Plantation Company HIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome HBS Household Budget Survey (1983/84) IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature MINAGRI Ministry of Agriculture MINASCOF Ministry of Social and Women's Affairs MINDIC Ministry of Industry and Commerce MINEF Ministry of Environment and Forests MINPAT Ministry of Planning and Territorial Management NRM Natural Resource Management OCISCA Observatoire du Changement et de l Innovation Sociale au Cameroun ONCPB National Agricultural Product Marketing Board PIP Public Investment Program PIRIPER Public Investment Review/Public Expenditure Review PPA Participatory Poverty Analysis PTA Parent-Teacher Association(s) RGPH Population/Housing Census, 1976, 1987. SDA Social Dimensions of Adjustment SEMRY Rice Development Company of Yagoua SOCAPALM Palm Oil Company SODECOTON Cotton Development Company STD Sexually Transmitted Disease UDEAC Central African Economic and Customs Union WRI World Resources Institute WWF World Wide Fund for Nature FISCAL YEAR July I - June 30 * The CFA Franc (CFAF) is tied to the French Franc (FF) at the ratio of FF1 = CFAFIOO (prior to January 1994, the ratio was FFI = CFAF 50). The French Franc is currently floating. Cameroon: Diversit, Growth, and Poverty Red1ction TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface Acknowledgments Executive Summary ........................................i PART I POVERTY IN CAMEROON: A COMPILATION OF EVIDENCE Chapter 1 Economic Performance in Historical Perspective .I Introduction: The Country Context .1 Economic Performance: The Quest for Growth .2 The Past as Prologue: Learning from the Past .4 Fiscal Policy: Unbalanced Spending Cuts and Priorities . 9 Conclusion: Uneven Effects of Recession .11 Chapter 2 An Income/Expenditure Profile of Poverty.13 Introduction .13 Poverty in 1983/84 .13 Poverty Trends, 1983-1993 .16 Developments in 1994 .25 Conclusion .27 Chapter 3 Coping With Crisis: The Viewpoint of the Poor .33 Introduction .33 Principal Poverty Issues .33 Linking Findings to Policy Recommendations: .43 Conclusion .44 PART II THE PERSISTENCE OF POVERTY: SYSTEMIC ISSUES Chapter 4 Food: Pervasive Insecurity .49 Introduction .49 Nutrition and Food Consumption .49 Agricultural Production and Marketing .53 The Agro-Industrial Sector .59 Conclusion .60 Chapter 5 Environment: Land, Law, and Livelihood ........................................ 62 Introduction ............................................ 62 Environmental Issues and Linkages to Poverty ..................................... 62 Land Tenure: Ownership and Use Rights ........................................... 66 Conclusion ............................................ 71 Chapter 6 Human Resources: The Nexus of Health, Education and Employment .......................................... 73 Introduction .......................................... 73 Demographic Dynamics .......................................... 73 Health .......................................... 74 Education and Schooling .......................................... 76 Employment .......................................... 78 Conclusion .......................................... 87 Chapter 7 Giving Voice to the Poor: Public Policy and Institutions ........... .... 90 Introduction .......................................... 90 Systemic Issues .......................................... 92 Supporting Local Initiatives and Participation by the Poor ............ ...... 98 PART III TOWARD A POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY Chapter 8 Poverty Reduction: A Question of Priority .................................... 103 Introduction .......................................... 103 Listen to the People .......................................... 104 Economic Policy from a Poverty Perspective ..................................... 106 Public Finance Policy .......................................... 112 Poverty Monitoring .......................................... 114 Chapter 9 Food Security: Building on Synergies .......................................... 116 Introduction .......................................... 116 Food Security: Cornerstone of Poverty Reduction .............................. 117 Nutrition .......................................... 120 Infrastructure .......................................... 122 Labor-Saving Technology Development and Application .................. 123 Chapter 10 Sustainability: Elements of a Long-Term Agenda ........................ 125 Introduction .......................................... 125 Sustaining Poverty Reduction in the Long-Term ................................ 125 Institutional Dimensions of Poverty Reduction .................................. 129 Environmental and Natural Resource Management Policies .......... .... 130 Land Tenure .......................................... 132 Conclusion: Back to Fundamentals .............................. ............ 134 ANNEXES Annex I: Statistical Annex .................................................. 137 Annex Il: Statistical Instruments for Monitoring Poverty ................................... 148 Annex III: Notes on Methodology .................................................. 152 Annex IV: Bibliography .................................................. 168 AnnexV: Maps .................................................. 179 LIST OF TEXT TABLES Table 1.1 Change in Share of Public Expenditures ................................................. 11 Table 2.1 Basic Data by Poverty Group, 1983/84 .................................................. 14 Table 2.2 Indicators of Poverty and Extreme Poverty ............................................. 15 Table 2.3 Consumption Budget Shares by Region .................................................. 16 Table 2.4 Trends in per capita Consumption, 1983 - 1993 ..................................... 17 Table 2.5 Consumption Budget Allocations, Yaounde, 1993 ................................. 18 Table 2.6 Trends in per capita Consumption by Type of Household, 1983-1993 ..19 Table 2.7 Poverty Level by Type of Household .................................................. 20 Table 2.8 Structure of Household Income by Poverty Level ................................. 20 Table 2.9 Household Income per capita by Employment Status ........................... 21 Table 2.10 Trends in Cash Crop Producer Prices, 1983-1993 ................................. 23 Table 2.11 Trends in Food Crop Producer Prices, 1984-1990 ................................. 24 Table 2.12 Trends in Earned Incomes in Yaounde .................................................. 26 Table 2.AI Urban and Rural Poverty Index by Province .......................................... 30 Table 3.1 Health Service Providers: Pros and Cons ............................................... 34 Table 4.1 Food Expenditure Per capita 1983 - 1993 .............................................. 52 Table 4.2 Consumption and Food Budget Shares, by Poverty Level ..................... 53 Table 6.1 Percent of Youth 15-24 without Schooling, 1987 .................................. 76 Table 6.2 Labor Force Participation Rates .................................................. 78 Table 6.3 Unemployment Rate in Relation to Education Level 1983-1993 .......... 80 Table 6.4 Salaried Employment in Relation to Education Level 1983 - 1993 ....... 81 Table 6.5 Weekly Hours Spent on Employment and Household Work ................. 84 Table 6.6 Job Creation and Job Plans of Young People Aged 15-29, 1992 ............ 85 Table 6.7 Monthly Earnings by Type of Employment in Yaounde ....................... 87 Table 6.8 Level of Meeting Selected Basic Needs by Region, 1991 ...................... 88 LIST OF TEXT BOXES Box 1.1 The Challenge of Diversity ...................................................1 Box 2.1 Expenditure Adjustment in Rural Areas .................................................. 25 Box 2.2 Pay Cuts in the Government .................................................. 26 Box 3.1 Poverty: A Self Assessment .................................................. 34 Box 3.2 Reasons for Enrollment and Retention of Girls in School in Douala ........... 39 Box 3.3 Transport Bias? .................................................. 41 Box 3.4 Isolation - The Case of Akwaya .................................................. 42 Box 4.1 Inadequate Breast Feeding Practices .................................................. 51 Box 4.2 Household Expenditures .................................................. 57 Box 4.3 Taxation of Cash Crop Farmers ............................................. 59 Box 5.1 The Population, Agriculture, and Environment Nexus ................................. 63 Box 5.2 Indigenous Peoples ............................................. 64 Box 5.3 Forest Taxation ............................................. 65 Box 5.4 Who Gets the Land? ............................................. 68 Box 5.5 Women and Land in Nso, North West Province .......................................... 70 Box 5.6 Conflict between Desirable Objectives ............................................. 70 Box 6.1 Labor Market Conditions in Yaounde ............................................. 79 Box 7.1 Information Inequalities, Poverty and Gender ............................................. 98 Box 7.2 Tontines .............................................. 100 Box 8.1 Broad Elements of a Strategy for Sustainable Poverty Reduction ............ 103 Box 8.2 The Action Plan of the Poor ............................................. 104 Box 8.3 Cameroonian Priorities ............................................. 105 Box 8.4 A Broad Reform Package........ ........ 107 Box 8.5 Boosting Labor Demand ................ 110 Box 8.6 Improving Agricultural Response to Price Changes .................................. 111 Box 8.7 Differential Incentives: Rational Economic Woman! ............................... 112 Box 8.8 Fiscal Strategy .................................... 112 Box 9.1 Livestock Production and Utilization .................................... 118 Box 9.2 Building a Cameroonian Food Industrial Sector .................................... 119 Box 9.3 The Micro-Enterprise Investment Program (FIMAC) ................................ 120 Box 9.4 "Enriching Lives" ..................................... 120 Box 9.5 "Enriching Lives": Priority Actions .................................... 121 Box 9.6 Early Warning and Emergency Relief .................................... 122 Box 9.7 Transports of the Mind .................................... 123 Box 9.8 Technology, Women's Time, and Productivity .................................... 124 Box 10.1 Growing Out of Poverty - How Long Will it Take? ................................... 126 Box 10.2 Investing in Girls' Education ..................................... 128 Box 10.3 Institutional Measures for Poverty Reduction .................................... 130 Box 10.4 National Environmental Management Plan .................................... 131 Box 10.5 Forest Management .................................... 132 Box 10.6 Land Tenure .................................... 133 LIST OF TEXT FIGURES Figure 1.1 Long-Term Movements in Output and Consumption .2 Figure 1.2 Long-Term Trends in Exchange Rate and Terms of Trade .3 Figure 1.3 Banking System Credit to the Public and Private Sectors .8 Figure 1.4 Wage Bill: A Growing Burden .10 Figure 2.1 Average per capita Consumption in Yaounde (in constant 1983 CFAF) 18 Figure 2.2 Distribution of Households and Income Levels by Poverty Groups. 22 Figure 2.3 Recent Consumer Price Trends by Product Type .27 Figure 2.AI Prevalence of Malnutrition by "Possession Index" . .30 Figure 3.1 Use of Health Services in the South-West Province, Cameroon .35 Figure 3.2 Eastern Province: Ranking of Most Common Health Ailments .35 Figure 3.3 The Medical Route in Five Regions for Two Time Periods .36 Figure 3.4 Problems Affecting Schools in the South West Province .38 Figure 3.5 The Impact of Poor Infrastructure on the Rural and Urban Poor .40 Figure 4.1 Stunting by Residence 1978 and 1991 .................................................. 50 Figure 4.2 Prevalence of Stunting by Occupation of the Mother, 1991 .........................5 1 Figure 4.3 Contribution to Various Sectors to Food Availability ................................. 54 Figure 4.4 Weekly Hours of Labor by Activity and Gender .......................................... 57 Figure 4.5 Gender Difference in Time Allocation .................................................. 58 Figure 6.1 Age Structure of the Population, 1991 .74 Figure 6.2 Changes in Prevalence of HIV Among Pregnant Women 1989-92 .75 Figure 6.3 Distribution of Health Personnel and Population by Province, 1989. 76 Figure 6.4 Unemployment Rate by Age 1983-1993 .80 Figure 6.5 Level of Activity of Women by Age 1983-1993 .83 Figure 7.1 Participation of Men and Women in Public Life, 1992 .97 LIST OF TEXT MAPS Map 2.A1 Poverty Index by Province ........................................ 31 Map 2.A2 Poverty Index by Province (Urban and Rural) ........................................ 32 Map 6.1 Illiteracy Rates by Province ........................................ 77 Summary Table of Principal Data Sources Type of Survey 7 Geographical Abbreviation used Year/Period of Coverage in Text References Implementation Income Siurvey Yaounde | ELSR _ April 1994 Price Survey P Principal Towns | 1993-1994 1-2-3 Survey (Employment + Informal Sector + aounCde 1-2-3 1992-1993 Consumption) (ELA/ECM1 OCISCA Douala OCISCA/ 1993 DSCN Demographic and Health Survey i National CDHS _ _ Agriculture Survey National _ _AG_1990 1989/1990 Agriculture Survey National AG1991 1990/1991 General Population and Housing Census National RGPH(87) 1987 Agricultural Census National AG84 1984 Household Budget Survey National HBS 1983/1984 Nutrition Survey National NNS 1978 General Population and Housing Census National RGPH(76) 1976 I-Standard of LivinR Surve Yaounde RI -%IA A Source: Annex 111. Acknowlegments Many people have contributed to the preparation of this poverty assessment (PA). The PA received direct financial support from the Government of France (SDA Trust Fund) for the preparation of the poverty profile, and from the Government of the Netherlands (Poverty Assessment Trust Fund) for the Participatory Poverty Analysis (PPA). The PPA also received financial support from the Population and Human Resources Division of the former Occidental and Central Africa Department (Ok Pannenborg, Division Chief), and from CARE Canada and CARE Cameroon. The PPA was carried out in Cameroon by local researchers during the period March- September 1994. The teams which carried out the PPA are as follows: Ajaga Nji (Coordinator), Severin C6cile Abega (Technical Adviser). Eastern Province: Florentin Mpol Zalang, RADEF, Team Leader, Mendouka Mbele, Bikoi Achille; Far North Province: S. Abega, CARE Cameroon, Team Leader, Yvonne Njock Nje, Christianne Nyangono; South West Province: Jacob N. Ngwa, PAID, Team Leader, Emmanuel Gwan, Rebecca Ngeve, Banyong Fonyam Betha, Tata Robinson; Douala: Gisele Yitamben, ASAFE, Team Leader, Andre Pouassi, Beatrice Achaleke, Toukam Lydie-Claire, Fongang Kuete; Yaounde: Jean Mfoulou, University of Yaounde I, Team Leader, Valentin Nga Ngono, Cyrile Balla, Sidonie Zoa Ngaoundoua, Jacqueline Aboa Ngono. Throughout the PPA process, technical advice and backstopping was provided by CARE Cameroon, with support from CARE Canada. The guidance, pragmatism, and tireless support of Michel Larouche (then Director, CARE Cameroon) is especially appreciated, as is the support from Gail Steckley (CARE Canada), and Katharine Reid (Consultant-PPA Training). The core team which prepared the PA is as follows: C. Mark Blackden, AFTH-R (Team Leader), Antoine Simonpietri, AFTHR (Poverty Profile and Statistical Systems), Lawrence Salmen and Gibwa Kajubi, ENVSP (Participatory Poverty Analysis), Roger Key, AF4PH (Macroeconomics and Poverty), Elisabeth Shields, EDIDM (Institutional Issues), Thierry Brun, AFTHR (Food Security and Nutrition), Abdou Salam Drabo, AFTHR (Coping Mechanisms), Cyprian Fisiy, AFTES (Land Tenure), and Julia Clones, Consultant (Poverty and Environment). The assessment was coordinated at different times by Mark Woodward, AF5PH, and Qaiser Khan, AF3PH. The team benefited greatly from the support of the Resident Mission in Cameroon, notably Joe Ingram, Joe Ntangsi, Werner Roider, Helene Pieume, and Gina Bowen. The team also gratefully acknowledges the contributions of Andre Ngassam, Directorate of Statistics and National Accounts (DSCN)/Cameroon, and Francois Roubaud, DIAL (poverty profile), George Koppert (food security surveys), Pierre Romand-Heuyer (poverty mapping), Fabrice Bonnaire AF4PH (tables), and Daniele Jaekel, AFTHR (charts and graphs). The Lead Advisor for the Poverty Assessment is Gloria Davis, ENVSP. Peer reviewers are Helen Sutch, EC4C2, and Aubrey Williams, OPRIE. The Managing Division Chief is David Berk, AF3PH, and the Department Director is Andrew Rogerson (Michael N. Sarris, Acting). Preface SUSTAINABLE POVERTY REDUCTION IS THE OVERARCHING OBJECTIVE OF THE WORLD BANK. IT IS THE BENCHMARK BY WHICH OUR PERFORMANCE AS A DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTION WILL BE MEASURED. (LEWIS PRESTON, POVERTYREDUCTIONHANDBOOK). To be poor is to be deprived and vulnerable: deprived of adequate nutrition, rudimentary health care, basic education, a living income, and opportunities to escape being poor; vulnerable to hunger, disease, ignorance, destitution, and to opportunities slipping away. If poverty persists, children born into poverty grow to adulthood and bring into the world a new generation of impoverished children. The cost of persistent poverty is measured in deferred dreams and wasted lives. A society that fails to extend opportunity to all its members-young and old, women and men, rural and urban-is a society adrift. Cameroon has been an independent nation for three and a half decades. Yet poverty is still an ever-present reality of many of its citizens' lives. Indeed, the extent of poverty has spread in the second half of the third and at the start of the fourth decade. Official statistics and the voices of the poor alike point to a society that has, so far, not done enough to confront its poverty. This report is intended to spark a debate on poverty in Cameroon: what it means to be poor, who the poor are, why they are poor, and what can be done about it. The problems are complex, but can be overcome with commitment, as other countries have shown. Above all, this report is a call for action. Another generation of poor Cameroonians is growing up fast. It is time for Cameroon to make a strong and unequivocal commitment to poverty reduction. If not now, when? The report endeavors to reflect the deliberations of a technical workshop organized in November 1994 in Kribi, the objective of which was to provide a forum for Cameroonians (inside and outside Government) to discuss an earlier draft of this assessment and to formulate ideas and priorities for poverty reduction in the country. The report also endeavors to incorporate and reflect comments received from the Cameroonian Government in January 1995. EXecutive summary 1. Introdction 1. This poverty assessment (PA) was undertaken for Cameroon, as for other IDA-eligible countries, as part of the IDA mandate to focus Bank Group support on sustainable poverty reduction. The objective of the PA is: (i) to assess the extent, depth, characteristics, trends, and causes of poverty in Cameroon, and in so doing to draw attention to poverty in Cameroon, which affects more than 50% of the rural population and up to 30% of the urban population; (ii) to move poverty to the center of any sustainable development strategy by articulating a poverty reduction strategy for Cameroon, which could be recommended to the Government as an input into its own strategy formulation, and which could be supported by the Bank; and (iii) to initiate and structure a process of longer-term dialogue with Cameroon on poverty issues, while providing a basis for further poverty monitoring and assessment.' Poverty reduction is one of the key elements of the most recent Country Assistance Strategy, where it is stated that the dialogue on poverty reduction covers economic performance issues, resource mobilization and expenditure allocation issues, and policy actions aimed at improving coverage and efficiency of basic health and education services (World Bank 1994a). 2. Quantitative data, while not entirely absent, are both limited and in some respects out-of- date. The choice of the 1983-93 period for purposes of comparison is dictated solely by the availability of data from the 1983 Household Budget Survey (HBS) and the 1993 surveys in Yaound6 and Douala (1-2-3 Survey and OCISCA Survey), which provide the principal quantitative benchmarks for this assessment. It is important to note that the evolution between 1983 and 1993 in fact masks two sub-periods, which cannot be dated precisely owing to data limitations. The turning point occurred around 1986, with the period 1983-86 constituting the end of the boom period spurred by high petroleum revenues and high agricultural export prices. To avoid bias in interpreting the data, every effort has been made to place recent trends- economic (Chapter 1); income/consumption (Chapter 2); nutrition (Chapter 4); and human development (Chapter 6)-in a broader historical context, drawing, where possible, on data from the 1960s and 1970s. It is still too soon to assess the impact of the major events of end- 1993/early 1994, the cumulative 60% cut in public sector salaries, and the 50% devaluation of the CFA franc, though some initial trends can already be observed. II. The Dynamics of Poverty and impoverishmcnt in Cameroon 3. Cameroon is a country of striking diversity and tantalizing potential. Throughout the 1965-85 period, Cameroon enjoyed high-and at times very high-economic growth. Its performance was praised by outside observers, including the World Bank. Yet the 1983/84 1 An earlier draft of this assessment was presented at a technical workshop organized in November 1994 in Kribi Cameroon, the objective of which was to provide a forum for Cameroonians (inside and outside Government) to discuss the conclusions of the assessment and to formulate ideas and priorities for poverty reduction in the country. This report endeavors to reflect the deliberations of this workshop and to incorporate and reflect comments received from the Cameroonian Government in January 1995. ii Household Budget Survey found both a high degree of poverty in rural areas and a marked inequality in the distribution of incomes, and the situation has further deteriorated since then (Part III below). Little is known about levels of poverty or income distribution in the mid 1960s. What is clear is that the high rate of economic growth was not sufficient to eliminate rural poverty or to achieve a desirable distribution of incomes during this period. 4. Since 1985, there has been a sharp and well-documented reversal in economic performance. GDP per capita declined by 6.3% per year from 1985 to 1993 and this translated into a 6.0% rate of decline in private consumption per capita. Cumulatively, this represents a drop in average per capita consumption of over 40% in eight years-a collapse that has been one of the most painful that any country has suffered, particularly coming after the extended period of growth over the previous two decades. As a result, the structural poverty which predated the crisis has combined with the rapid impoverishment that has accompanied the economic decline in the 1985-93 period to become a serious problem for Camneroon, one requiring urgent and sustained attention. 5. The decline in Cameroon's economic situation can be attributed in part to highly unfavorable extemal factors, notably the drop in export prices, declines in petroleum exports and revenues, and the high level of foreign debt service. These factors were very important in precipitating and extending the downturn. Cameroon's extemal terms of trade fell by over a half in 1985-88, implying that export volume would have had to double to pay for a constant volume of imports. Since then, the terms of trade have declined even further, though not at the disheartening pace of the mid 1980s. The difficult external environment was compounded by a marked loss of economic competitiveness. In 1985, Cameroon's real effective exchange rate moved sharply upwards, and by 1992 stood at 162 (1985=100), while it would have had to fall to 38 to match the terms of trade movement. The main causes of the change were beyond Cameroon's control: the appreciation of the French franc vis-a-vis the US dollar, carrying with it the CFA franc which maintained the same parity with the French franc, and the decision of the Nigerian Government to devalue the naira in 1985/86. 6. Labor Market Performance. The loss of product markets was reflected in lower demand for labor, and this limited the employment and income possibilities for all Cameroonians. As argued in Chapter 2, the mode of entry into the labor market is a key factor in the structure of income received by different households. Employment data illustrate the slow growth in demand for labor in the formal sector from the mid-1980s. New hiring has been extremely limited, and personnel reductions have often occurred through attrition. There have also been mass lay-offs in some enterprises, especially in recent years, as a result of bankruptcies and plant closures. The only sector of the economy where employment grew during the period was the public administration, which expanded by about 10%. Expansion of public employment absorbed only a minute fraction of new labor force entrants, and in any case has proven to be fiscally unsustainable. 7. The corollary of formal sector decline, and a key indicator of labor market stress, is the massive regression in the share of salaried employment as the informal sector expanded. The proportion of salaried to total workers was over 65% in 1983, and was still at 63% in 1987, but fell to under 50% in 1993. As the economic crisis worsened, the informal sector became the chief provider of jobs. In 1992, more than four in five jobs created were in the informal sector. iii 8. The soaring unemployment Bo : Labor Market Conditions in Yaoundd rate is the primary indicator of the difficulties Cameroonians face trying Sharply diverging trends in labor supply and demand have led to to enter the labor market (Box 1). a large increase in unemployment which stood at about 7 pement Over a period of ten years this rate has in 1983. A 1993 study of the labor market in Yaounde provides risen from 7.3% of the active a grim view of contemporary urban labor rnaket conditions. Open unemployment was reported at close to 25 percent in population to 24.6%. Today, the urban 1993. Discouraged workers and underenployment add unemployment rate in Cameroon is significantly to this total. Whatever figure is accepted, it points one of the highest in Africa and well to a collapse of urban employment of catastrophic proportions. above the rates recorded in Latin The 1993 survey preceded the November 1993 cuts in civil service salaries and the January 1994 devaluation, both of which America and Asia, with youth have had a negative effect on employment opportunities in the unemployment (over 40% for the 20- short-term. 24 age group in 1993) particularly severe. Not only has unemployment risen sharply in recent years, but, in marked contrast to 1983, the rate of unemployment is now highest among tertiary graduates (Figure 1). Unemployment, and more specifically the labor market entry of young job seekers, has become a problem which economic policy can no longer afford to ignore. Figure 1 Unemployment Rates by Lew] of E&dcation, 1983-87-93 No schooling Primary 19 I I ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~l~983 Secondary D 1 97 Higher 1993 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 36 (Percent) Source: HBS (1983); RGPH (1987); 1-2-3 Survey; own estimates. 9. Individuals and households, especially in Yaounde and Douala, have mobilized family labor and diversified activities in order to earn incomes. The labor market in Cameroon is overstretched, and even the informal sector is strained. Labor market stress has led to a pronounced decline in real wages. Even before the events of late 1993 and early 1994, average earnings in the informal sector were well below the 1993 poverty line. The informal sector is not leading the way out of poverty, but has to-date been sinking into ever lower equilibria. 10. Efforts by households to diversify income have resulted in greater recourse to all available sources of labor, and have translated into greater rates of participation of women and youth in the labor force. Participation by women in a low-earning and precarious informal sector, iv notwithstanding the flexibility it may afford in balancing domestic and economic activities, is by no means uniformly beneficial. Young people, increasingly combining school and employment, are also faced with a highly precarious future, characterized by limited job opportunities and a set of expectations about future employment that is completely at odds with the likely patterns of labor absorption in the foreseeable future (Figure 2). Meanwhile, the education and training system has not met the real demand of society in the area of skills development for self- employment. Figure 2 Gap Between Job Prefernce and Jobs Crested for Youth aged 15-29 in Yaoude, 1992 90 s 70 ~30 20 - 10 Public Public Private Sector Infonnal Administaon Enbrpris Sector So,*: Enqults 1-2-3 (93). diision sebmat. Cc`ted Jobs - _Desired Empioment] 11. For the coming decades, an explosion of the labor force is in prospect, driven by demographic dynamics (para. 20), and this represents a critical challenge for Cameroonian society. To avoid continuing downward pressure on real wages and earnings, labor demand must essentially rise sufficiently to absorb the increase in the labor force. To achieve buoyant and rising levels of earnings, as was the case in the early part of Cameroon's history, even more rapid growth of labor demand will be necessary. Growth will need to be rapid, and the focus on labor- intensity in long-term growth extremely sharp, if Cameroon is to avoid deepening poverty. 12. Public Finance Performance. The way in which fiscal adjustment was attempted in 1985-93 proved very harmful to the poor. Reflecting in part reduced economic activity, in part a slackening of tax collection, revenues declined steadily as a share of GDP throughout the 1985- 93 period. As a result, expenditures were under severe pressure, though some items were not easily compressed. The wage bill was stable or at times rising throughout the period, except in late 1993. Instead, cuts tended to be made in materials, supplies and counterpart funds for extemally financed development projects. It is now a rare exception to find public sector facilities -schools, hospitals, clinics-with adequate supplies to fulfill their tasks unless these are supplied by a foreign donor. The views of the poor confirm this finding (Chapter 3). 13. Analysis of limited available public expenditure data portrays a trend of increasing stress on public budgets. There has been a continued squeezing out of non-salary expenditures to cover salary costs. Data for 1989-92 confirm that salaries continued to rise as a share of total recurrent expenditures-the aleady negligible (and dwindling) share of non-salary expenditures precluded the effective provision of critical non-salary inputs, such as medicines, textbooks, and equipment. Actual non-wage expenditures in 1992/93, the last year for which data are available, represented only 5% of total expenditures for education, and 13% for agriculture and health. V 14. Regional differences in budget allocations and actual expenditures cannot be appreciated directly in budget data, though various proxies suggest a strong degree of centralization and marked regional disparities in resource allocations. Even recent trends in budget allocations do not indicate any shift in the composition toward priority development sectors, but rather the reverse. The trend of declining allocations to poverty-focused sectors was maintained in the budget allocations for 1993/94 and in the recently approved 1994/95 budget. Total recurrent expenditure budget allocations for 1994/95 have declined for agriculture, the social sectors, and other development sectors, while those for national sovereignty and environment ministries have increased. It therefore appears that budget allocations continue to favor sectors and activities which prima facie, and with the exception of the environment, are not focused on poverty reduction. III. A PrOfik of PoVet 15. The Situation in 1983/84. Data from the 1983/84 HBS suggest that previous patterns of economic growth in Cameroon were highly uneven, leading to considerable inequality among both socio-economic groups and regions in the country. Based on the 1983/84 distribution of consumption expenditures, a relative poverty line was defined to include as poor all households whose per capita consumption was at or below that of the 40th percentile of the income distribution, which corresponded to a consumption level of CFAF 78,000 (US$205 equivalent) (in 1983 prices). Poor and very poor households accounted in 1983/84 for only 20% and 8%, respectively, of total consumption. Per capita food consumption of poor households was four times less (and for the poorest, five times less) than that of non-poor households. Disparities were even greater for total consumption, as mean per capita consumption of non-poor households was CFAF 287,300, (US$756) compared with CFAF 36,700 (US$97) for the poorest and CFAF 50,500 (US$133) for the poor. The poverty status of households was (and still is) significantly affected by their age and gender structure, size, education level, and location (Table 1). Regional disparities in annual per capita consumption in 1983/84 were also marked. Geographic location was therefore a strong indicator of poverty. In 1983/84, poor households were concentrated in rural areas (Figure 3). 2 Table 1 Basic Data By Poverty Group, 1983/84 in CFAF and percent Poorest Poor Intermed. Non Poor Cameroon % households with 6+ members 64 59 44 30 45 Food consumption per capita 22800 30800 54600 119200 105000 Total consumption per capita 36700 50500 96000 287300 152000 % of infants 0-S 23 23 20 17 21 % of children 6-15 33 31 28 24 29 % who never attended school 64 62 54 44 55 Source: HBS(1983/14), own estimates. 2 The dearth of "poor' households in Yaounde and Douala is, of course, misleading, and should be interpreted only to signify that, using the relative poverty line, the 40%/ of households with the least resources did not live in the two largest cities. Undoubtedly, even in 1983/84 at the height of the oil boom, some households in Yaounde and Douala were not able to meet their basic needs, and thus fell below an absolute poverty line. vi Figure 3 Powerty Inicators by Region, 1983-84 so 450000 so - - 400000 } @0 l X / 335DO00 so - - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~300000 so- #> ** { v 250000 , 40 _ A C i _ _ _ 200000 30 15~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~00(0 20 w_oo ID ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~50000 0 ~~~~~~~~~~~l0 North South South North Douala Yaounde Rural Rural Urban Urban inPoorhmtlds(1q C%withnoahoO&V rk Icmkof povrty(tq ---Av.peffczPft.yMty Wpa1tw (CFAF) Source: HBS(1983/84). 16. Poveny Trends to 1993. The period since the mid-1980s has been one of rapid impoverishment in Cameroon, and there has been a very sharp decline in per capita consumption. Direct household survey data are only available for Yaounde and Douala. The increase in the incidence of urban poverty has been marked. While fewer than 1% of households in Yaounde and Douala fell below the poverty line in 1983, more than 20% of households in Yaoundd, and 30% in Douala, did so in 1993. Data for Yaounde suggest that mean per capita consumption has fallen in nominal terms from CFAF 454,500 (US$1,196) in 1983 to CFAF 305,000 (USS1,051) in 1993. Adjusting for changes in relative prices results in per capita annual consumption of CFAF 231,000 (US$608) (1983 prices), or a reduction in value terms of about 50%. In 1964, per capita consumption amounted to CFAF 56,000, or CFAF 336,000 in 1993 terms. In this light, the level of per capita consumption in Yaounde is about 10% lower than it was thirty years ago (Figure 4). 17. The burden of decline has also been uneven. Though all groups of households showed a substantial drop in consumption in the period to 1993, those who were the poorest at the outset have proven to be the most vulnerable.3 Households which remained in the ':formal" sector, notwithstanding the employment stagnation, were comparatively sheltered but nevertheless sustained a 20% to 30% reduction in per capita consumption. "Informal households experienced both a contraction in demand and lower prices for the goods and services they sold, and their consumption declined by about 40%. Lastly, "inactive/unemployed' households were hardest hit: incomes shrank and consumption plummeted by more than 60%. The earnings gap between the formal and informal sectors may have been narrowed by the 1993 civil service 3 In this analysis, households are classified in three groups, along two axes: first, as a function of their per capita consumption: (i) 'poor' households with consumption below the poverty line (20% of households in Yaounde); (ii) 'intermediate' households with consumption between I and 2 times the poverty line (30%); and (iii) "non- poor' households with consumption more than twice the poverty line (SO4); second, as a function of their employment status: (i) "formal" (private/public), where the household head earns a wage or salary; (ii) "iformal" where the head is not salaried; and (iii) "inactive/unemployed", where the head has no employment, this latter being, a priori, a disadvantaged and vulnerable group from a poverty perspective. vii salary cuts, but reduced demand from this group (representing about 22% of employment in Yaounde) has further depressed informal sector earnings. 18. Rural Poverty. The 1983 HBS data established that poverty was Figur 4: Mean Per Capita Consumptonh In overwhelmingly a rural phenomenon in Yaos (in constant 193 CFAF) Cameroon, estimating that I in 2 rural so households fell below the poverty line. 40 Rural areas have not been spared by 400 ~3B Cameroons economic collapse, and 30 rural poverty is estimated to have 2s increased considerably in the last 10 , 2c0 years. Producer prices for most crops i 100 have declined significantly over the so period. The drop in producer prices for o cash crops is estimated at 42% for the 1964 1983 1N3 period. The decline in real income from cash crop farming is estimated at some 60% over the period. For food crops, the fall in prices between 1985 and 1993 has been particularly steep. In per capita terms, production volumes have declined (from index 101 in 1981-3 to 86 in 1988-90). Total income from agriculture (cash and food crops, including own-consumption) shrank in value terms by 6% between 1985 and 1993. If demographic growth (estimated at 2% per year in rural areas) is taken into account, nominal per capita income fell by 25%. Assuming that the decrease in per capita consumption was uniform for all rural households, and that consumer prices increased by only 10% (as against 30% in Yaound6), the number of rural households below the poverty line would have risen from 49% to 71% during this period. These estimates suggest a considerable expansion of rural poverty in Cameroon over this period. Figure S compares the estimated number of households in poverty in Cameroon by region in 1983 and 1993. Figure 5: Incidence of Poverty by Region - 1983-1993 250 - South Rural North Rural South Urban North Urban Doumla Yewjft Source: HBS (1983); 1-2-3 Survey (1993); own estimates. 19. The Impact of the Public Sector Salary Cuts and the Devaluation. Over and above the cumulative decline of the 1986-93 period, and although data are provisional, it is already possible to assess the initial impact of the approximately 60% cut in public sector wages (January and November 1993) and the 50% devaluation of the CFA franc (January 1994) on household-level consumption and behavior, notably in Yaounde. Between December 1993 and March 1994, nominal salaries in the public sector remained roughly constant, not moving in the viii administration and declining slightly in the public enterprise and formal private sector. By contrast, the incomes of self-employed people in the informal sector have fallen sharply, by on average 35%. This is largely attributable to contraction of demand from public sector employees. Here too, the burden of adjustment seems to be falling disproportionately on the lowest, and least secure, income categories. Meanwhile, the rise in the general level of consumer prices between December 1993 and April 1994 was 29%. By end-December 1994, prices had risen by 48% over the period. As a result real urban "incomes" fell markedly during the year, by about 1/3 in the public sector, and by more than 1/2 in the informal sector. 20. Human Resource DevelopmenL Cameroon's population is estimated at around 12 million (1993), growing annually by close to 3%. If current demographic indicators remain constant, as is likely, Cameroon's population will reach 15.5 million by the year 2000 and 21 million by the year 2010. More than 30% of the population is under age 10, and nearly 60% is under 20. The demographic pressure resulting from the youth of the Cameroonian population poses significant problems for all economic and social services, notably education, health, and job creation. Cameroon's health indicators resemble those of low-income countries in SSA. Children under 5 are at a significant health risk in Cameroon. The infant mortality rate is estimated at 65 per 1,000 live births and the under 5 mortality rate is 126 per 1,000 live births. HIV/AIDS is a health risk throughout Cameroon, including in rural areas. Prevalence rates vary by risk group and by province. Census and CDHS data confirm a high correlation between health service use and the socio-economic (education and employment status) and regional classification of households, with education status of mothers having a strong positive effect on health and on reducing fertility. Urbanization increases the likelihood that health needs will be met. 21. The period up to about 1987 has seen an impressive increase in schooling levels in Cameroon. Between 1976 and 1987, illiteracy among those 11 years and older fell from 53% to 41%, while the enrollment rate for the 6-14 age group rose from 67% to 73%. This helped to reduce both male/female and urban/rural disparities, though important differences persist. Regional differences in access to schooling are significant. According to the 1987 census, adult illiteracy ranges from less than 20% in the Littoral, South, and Center provinces, through 30%- 45% in the South West, West, East and Adamaoua provinces, up to about 70% in the North and Far North. The latter two provinces also have the lowest school attendance rates, regardless of sex or age group, as fewer than 50% of children aged 6-14 attended school in 1987, as against 90% in the Littoral, South, West, and Center provinces. Trends in educational enrollments since 1987 are unclear, though there are some indications that school attendance is declining in response to the crisis. 22. Nutrition and Food Security. In spite of a marked improvement in average nutritional status since independence in 1960, relatively high levels of malnutrition persist in Camneroon. Twenty-five percent of all Cameroonian children under 5 suffer from stunting, indicating a high prevalence of chronic malnutrition and chronic illness. There are large regional differences in the prevalence and the trends of malnutrition with incidence higher in the North and lower in the Center and West of the country. From 1978 to 1991, the level of chronic undernutrition declined by 60% in the principal cities but only by 20% in rural areas. Chronic undernutrition declined in all provinces but considerably less so in the Adamaoua/Nordi/Far North region and East province than elsewhere. There is also a high prevalence of micronutrient deficiency diseases (iron and iodine deficiencies, causing goiter and anemia) affecting mainly children and women .x of low-income groups.4 Analysis of food consumption budget trends in 1983-93 shows that the level of food expenditure per capita has declined by 30% in 10 years. Changes in budget outlays for food items suggest that important shifts in dietary patterns have occurred, indicating a deterioration in the diet of Cameroonians. 23. Problems associated with hunger, dietary inadequacy, and high food expenditures Bo 2: PovertA SelfAssessment dominate the assessment made by the poor of The poor in all the regions distinguish themselves the distinguishing characteristics of poverty from the non-poor on five main criteria: (Box 2). Cameroon's cities are fed by complex chains of small producers and intermediaries. 4 the presence of hunger in their households; In both food production and marketing, women + fewer meals a day and nutritionally inadequate play a major role. Women have a diets; disproportionately heavy workload compared + higher percentage of their meager and with men. In a study close to Yaounde, the irregular income being spent on food; most striking contrast is between men's and 4 non-existent or minimal sources of cash women's total labor hours. Men's total weekly income; labor averages 32 hours, while women's is over 4 a feeling of powerlessness and inability to 64 hours, and much of this disparity results make themselves heard. from differences in domestic labor hours (Figure 6). If women are to have more time to Source: PPA Synthesis Report 1994. supply urban markets, they need reliable labor- saving technologies and credit. Fgure 6: Cameroon - Weekly Hours of Labor by Activity and Gender 70 50 _Other Productive Activsts 4 Paliine Production I!40 _ Cocoa Roduction ° 30 3 Food Transforrration 2Food Production 20 3 lDDa stic Labor 10 IVen Wornen Source: Henn 1988. 4 Prevalence of anemia is estimated at 400/o for rural women (25% for Yaound6); prevalence of goiter is high, but also highly localized, with prevalence ranging from about 3% to 75% depending on the region (Chapter 4). x IV. Toward a PoYvrt RedJction Stratejy 24. The problems of systemic and pervasive poverty presented in this assessment exceed the capacity of the Government alone, or of any other isolated actor, to address. Creating an "enabling environment" for poverty reduction in Cameroon will require forceful and inclusive policies and institutional reforms, mobilizing all civil society, with the Government playing a catalytic, policy-defining, and facilitating role. A prerequisite, therefore, is the need for the Government to demonstrate a strong and unequivocal commitment to poverty reduction. The poverty reduction strategy outlined in this assessment defines specific ways in which this commitment can be shown. At the same time, and as confirmed in the PPA (Chapter 3), it is essential to address institutional performance and management issues, including performance- based rewards and sanctions, aimed at re-establishing confidence and trust in both public and private institutions at all levels. Enhancing the quality, predictability and transparency of public administration is an essential dimension of sustainable poverty reduction. Performance improvement needs to be coupled with renewed focus on service to the poor. 25. The data and information for the poverty profile (Chapter 2) and the participatory poverty analysis (Chapter 3) were provided by Cameroonian experts and the poor themselves. As part of pursuing a broader dialogue with a wide range of people in Cameroon, both in Government and in civil society, the Government and the World Bank organized a technical workshop in Kribi and a national conference in Yaounde in November 1994, to provide fora for broad-based discussion of the assessment and for articulation of key priorities in the poverty reduction strategy. These consultative processes reveal that there is remarkable convergence between the views of "experts" and those of the poor themselves as to what Cameroon needs to do to reduce poverty. Key actions identified by poor people in the framework of the PPA (Chapters 3 and 8) emphasize institutional performance, greater local initiative, and provision of basic infrastructure, as essential components of the poverty reduction strategy. The strategy presented in this assessment endeavors to build on the insights from, and reflect the outcome of, this valuable process of in-country debate and dialogue. 26. The following principles, which cut across sectors and institutions, need to underpin and be integral to the poverty reduction effort in Cameroon: -.0. Commitment to economic reform and accelerated growth. Sustaining the economic reform program, and building on the potential gains of the devaluation to generate rapid growth is essential. Giving voice to the poor, strengthening local initiative and participation. Listening to the concerns and priorities of the poor needs to be a central component of the poverty reduction strategy, which can build on the initiative of the poor, with the Government serving in a facilitating role. Institutionalizing participatory approaches shows promise in helping Cameroon to address the strengths, while reducing the risks, of managing its own exceptional diversity. 4' Reducing regional disparities. Commitment to implement policies specifically aimed at reducing the marked regional inequalities both in income and economic opportunity, and in provision of social services and economic infrastructure, in part through targeting public sector investment and service provision explicitly toward those regions which are comparatively less well served, is essential. xi Reducing gender disparities. Reducing the systematic discrimination against women in access to economically productive resources (especially land and financial services), lowering their excessive labor time burdens through development of and improving access to domestic and productive labor-saving technologies, and affirmatively improving their access to basic social services, need to be at the core of the country's poverty reduction strategy if full supply response and economic growth potential are to be realized. 4 Sustainabk development. If Cameroon is to lay a firm foundation for sustainable development, a start must be made in addressing the longer term systemic issues related to land use and environmental management, and to institutional capacity and development, outlined in this report (Chapters S and 7): attention must be paid to land tenure, law reform, and environmental management issues, without which economic growth, agricultural supply response, food security, and poverty reduction cannot be sustained. Cameroon also needs to take forceful action to implement the national population policy and to ensure access to and delivery of family planning services. 27. Successful poverty reduction Box 3: Broad Elements of a Strategyfor Sustainable strategies in countries around the world have Poverty Reduction had at their core two essential economic components: rapid labor-intensive growth Equitable labor-using growth, accompanied by broad- that builds on the labor of the poor, and a based investment in basic health, education, and wvillingness to invest in human resources infrastructure, would have to be the pillars of any poverty willingness to inverstof sinehuma resourcThes reduction strategy. In order to encourage growth, throughout all layers of society (Box 3). The macroeconomic stability is necessary, as is agricultural strategy presented here for Government development and private sector development. consideration focuses on sustaining and Throughout-in health, education and agriculture, for strengthening the economic reform effort example-reducing gender inequities is crucial. Studies initiated with the devaluation of the CFA of recently successful development have confirmed these broad elements of the development agenda, but have also franc, including: (i) the pursuit of labor- emphasized the importance of the capacity of a nation to intensive growth policies which favor the manage its affairs in an intemal and extemal environment poor; and (ii) restructuring public finance- that is uncertain and volatile. Finally, environmental and particularly public spending (mindful of sustainability and the population dimension have now been brought firmly into the development agenda the limits Imposed by fiscal constraints)-to emphasize critical human resource and Source: World Bank. 1995. infrastructure expenditures especially benefiting the poor. The strategy places sustained attention to improving food security at the forefront, as promoting a small-scale food industrial sector captures critical cross-sectoral synergies, all of which contribute to labor-intensive growth and poverty reduction. Consistent with the systemic poverty issues raised in this assessment, the strategy also outlines elements of a longer-term agenda, in which to address environmental, land tenure reform, and institutional performance and capacity issues. 28. Participation: Building on the Efforts of the Poor. Process is every bit as important as what is done. The process of articulating (and acting on) specific policies to reduce poverty is necessarily iterative, involving, first and foremost, Cameroon's Government, civil society, and the poor themselves (Box 4). Poverty reduction can only succeed if it engages the energies of all Cameroonians to work together, as concerted action will be essential to address the magnitude of the country's recent impoverishment and its systemic poverty problems, and to mobilize the xii resources required. Rebuilding the partnership between the public sector and civil society at large will not only help to reduce poverty, but will also turn Cameroon's exceptional diversity and dynamism into an asset. Box 4: The Action Plan of the Poor The poor have the initiative, industry, interest, creativity, and energy to make meaningful contributions to poverty reduction in Cameroon. They have demonstrated this through self-help and community-based associations, and through the various coping mechanisms adopted within the last five years. In the participatory poverty analysis (Chapter 3), the poor identified the following priorities: 4 the efforts of individuals must be reinforced by strong, viable, and efficient institutions-this entails greater decentralization of institutions, capacity-building and performance improvement, and establishment of an enabling environment for the private sector to grow; 4 political will and commitment to reduce poverty, and to reduce regional imbalances-without these no amount of policy reforms can help in the present circumstances; 4 road infrastructure, lack of which is seen as a deterrent to personal and community initiatives in reducing poverty, so as to promote agriculture and other sectors of the economy; 4 create opportunities to increase household income; 4 reorientation of expenditures in the public sector to ensure provision of basic health services and drugs, road rehabilitation and maintenance, and education. Source: PPA Synthesis Report 1994. 29. Institutions involved in development and poverty reduction must hear the voices of both men and women because very often they will not be saying the same thing. It cannot be assumed that (male) community leaders fully understand, reflect, or speak for the needs of the entire community. Effective participation of both men and women as stakeholders in development requires that ways be found to capture their very distinctive voices, expressing-where and when they vary-their different needs, limitations, priorities, and aspirations. Though Cameroon is one of Africa's better performers with respect to women's participation in public life, women nonetheless hold a very small share of positions in public office (Figure 7). 30. Economic Reform and Labor-Intensive Growth. Countries that have been successful in reducing poverty over an extended period have almost invariably built this achievement on high and sustained economic growth, one of the essential prerequisites for any successful poverty reduction strategy. Cameroon is a rich and fertile country whose potential is not being realized. With its natural and human resource base, Cameroon has clear potential for restoring economic growth, especially in agriculture and through the private sector, and meeting the basic needs of its population. With the devaluation of the CFA franc by 50% in January 1994, a new economic strategy has been put in place that offers a foundation for rebuilding the economy. The Government has an outstanding, if not unique, opportunity to transform economic policies and, if it chooses, to reverse the process of impoverishment. From a poverty reduction perspective, the need for successful completion of the reforms that began with the devaluation cannot be stressed enough. Structural reforms that can hold prices down through competition, such as the deregulation of transport or agricultural marketing, are still incomplete and need to be accelerated. Measures to lower production costs and achieve greater efficiency in all sectors of the economy are essential, with the new parity of the CFA franc, to avoid a return to monetary xiii and fiscal repression and the forcing down of nominal wages and prices. Structural measures that increase efficiency in transportation or distribution, or that lower the costs of economic regulation, make sense for economic efficiency, and many of them can also help bring important gains for the poor. Figure 7: Cameroon, Participation of Men and Women in Public Ufe, 1992 00% 90% 60% 70% C 60%A 0Men 40% S~~~~~~~~Women 30% 20% 0%~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CATEGORY Source: FAFCAM. 31. The challenge of absorbing Cameroon's rapidly growing labor force is both massive and urgent, and will necessarily principally involve the private and informal sectors. Labor-intensive growth is the key to raising household incomes. There is a need to encourage investment in labor-intensive activities, both urban and rural, to ensure that the growth of demand for labor can be sustained. Despite the current problems of the urban informal sector (Chapter 6), promotion of inforrnal enterprises through regulatory reforms, and opening up access to credit and other business or financial services, show considerable promise for future labor absorption. The informal sector will also benefit from a revitalized formal sector and the attendant increased demand. Promoting the small-scale food production, processing and marketing sector (para. 37) crucially supports poverty-reducing, labor-intensive growth. An increase in public works, which strongly favor labor-intensive techniques and practices, which rely on locally produced and available materials, and which can be accompanied by greater reliance on sub-contracting at the local level to small-scale entrepreneurs, is the most immediate tool available to the Government to generate additional labor demand. Though the impact of such measures will be limited by implementation capacity and the overall availability of public finance, the focus on labor- intensiveness in public spending can bring immediate and tangible benefits and have important multiplier effects. The more effectively such measures are implemented, the greater will be their effect on employment. 32. There is no quick fix for long-term poverty reduction in Cameroon (Box 5). Issues of sustainability must dominate any long-term strategy. For Cameroon, economic policies are important but not overriding. Investment in human resources is at least as important if significant xiv inroads are to be made in the long-tern health, nutrition, and education status of the poor. Raising the economic and social status of women is particularly crucial. Environmental issues, and evolving patterns of land tenure and use, which affect the sustainability and the quality of the environment in which the poor live, and the capacity of the poor to earn a livelihood, will assume increasing significance. Box 5: Growing Out of Poverty - How Long Will it Take? How much growth will be necessary for Cameroon to eliminate poverty? In 1983/84, 400/o of Carneroon's population were below the CFAF 78,000 poverty line. In the decade since then, average private consumption per capita has fallen by one-third in real terms. If the decline was proportionately shared, about 65% of Cameroonians would be below this line today. If growth is evenly distributed, so that the incomes of all-rich and poor-grow at the same rate, GDP growth at 5% would allow personal consumption to rise by 2-3% annually. At this rate, it will take 17 years to get back to a poverty incidence of 40%, and about 50 years to reduce the incidence to 10/. If growth can be pro-poor, so that consumption of the poor grows 2% faster than the average, poverty reduction would be much quicker. Incidence could be lowered to 400/o in only 10 years and to 10°/e in just over 25 years. The difference between neutral and pro-poor growth is a full generation. In the 1970s, labor supply and demand moved in parallel, but in the 1980s labor demand lagged and unemployment emerged, especially in urban areas. If labor supply grows in line with the working age population-about 2.7% annually-and even if employment were to increase in line with GDP at 5% a year, implying a degree of labor-intensiveness matched by few countries in the world, it would still take until 2010 to bring the emnployment situation back to its 1983 balance. For Cameroon, it will be necessary to make growth much more labor- intensive to give the poor a full share in growth. 33. The capacity of people to respond to opportunities provided by new economic incentives is significantly influenced by gender-based factors. In Cameroon, there is considerable evidence of imbalances in the gender division of labor, and in access to and control of economically pro- ductive resources, which define men's and women's differential economic opportunities and con- straints. Poor farmers in general, and women in particular, have virtually no access to formal financial services. Significant gender differentials in earnings (Chapter 2), in time allocation (Chapters 2 and 4), in land ownership and use rights (Chapter 5), in schooling and literacy (Chapter 6), and in participation in public life (Chapter 7), are highlighted in this assessment. Women's central position in Cameroon's food sector needs to be set against the systematic discrimination they face in accessing the basic technologies and resources they need to be economically productive and efficient. These differentials have important implications for the productivity and dynamism of the economy, where they contribute directly to sub-optimal resource allocation and a lower supply response to economic incentives than would be the case if these differentials were reduced (Box 6). Box 6: Differential Incentives: Rational Economic Woman! A study of the SEMRY rice project in Cameroon found evidence of household production decisions that led to sub- optimal production, and failure to maximize income. At issue is the compensation women received for their labor. There is frequent conflict between men and women over the division of income from rice production. Men traditionally have the right to income earned by their wives, and income from rice sales was controlled by men, though women were expected to contribute their labor. Women's willingness to contribute labor to rice production depended on their being compensated significantly above what they could earn from low-return subsistence crops. Otherwise, they chose to work on subsistence crops, even though this kept the family's total income below the potential maximum. Source: Adapted from Jones 1983. xv 34. Key measures to address the labor time burden of women include actions to promote household and community labor-saving and energy-saving technologies, particularly in northem provinces where fuelwood is available in limited quantities and is expensive for city dwellers; improved stoves and the establishment of rural/community forestry to reduce pressure on limited forest resources; and regional centers for appropriate technologies, run by associations of progressive farmers, assisted by NGOs, to undertake research and innovation, which could be funded by providing services at moderate cost, including locally made equipment and corresponding training. 35. Public Finance There is a wide gulf between the spending patterns in the public sector and the development (poverty reduction) needs of the country. It is essential to narrow this gulf. A substantial reorientation and restructuring of public expenditures within the available resource envelope is possible and should be undertaken to strengthen the development and poverty focus of public spending. Though such restructuring is neither easy nor likely to occur rapidly, it is essential that a start be made in addressing the harsh choices and trade-offs necessary to ensure sharper focus of public expenditures on the critical needs of the poor. Restoration of key sectors (education, health, rural roads, water supply) to their high priority poverty-reducing role is perhaps the most critical single action the Govermment can undertake, through public expenditure reform, to affirn and to sustain commitment to poverty reduction. 36. Underpinning any reform of public expenditure policy is the need to re-establish an appropriate balance between salary and non-salary spending, and to make explicit the Government's intention to favor those regions and population groups (notably in the northern half of the country), who heretofore have been less well served by public provision of basic services and infrastructure. The following areas require increased emphasis in public spending programs: 4 Expansion of basic education (primary and middle levels). Particular efforts will need to be made to reduce regional and gender gaps in education, as female education has significant poverty-reducing externalities (Chapter 6). 4 Increasing access to quality basic health care is a priority, with emphasis on vaccination, nutrition, and preventive programs. Vaccination coverage remains very low for the country as a whole, especially in the north, and should be a high priority. Nutrition interventions to address micronutrient deficiency are also critical (Chapter 9). 4 Development of the small-scale food industry sector needs to be favored in agricultural, trade, finance, and urban sector investment and expenditure decisions, and this must be done in ways that explicitly take account of the central role of women. The role of the public sector is principally to ensure a market-friendly business environment, including through appropriate legal and regulatory reforms, and to provide limited but catalytic support to key services. Research and extension should give additional emphasis to staple food crops, to development and application of intermediate technologies, and to issues of processing and storage. Credit support should be channeled through local-level cooperative structures, assisted by a national agency (Chapters 4 and 9). 4 Rural road maintenance and rehabilitation have been identified by the poor as a critical priority need, as improvements in transport infrastructure will enable them to participate in the growth process. This must be associated especially with providing market access xvi to isolated areas, strengthening producer/market linkages for a wide range of agro-food products, and improving or enabling greater access to basic social services (Chapters 3 and 4). The poverty focus can be intensified through public procurement policies favoring small firms and labor-intensive techniques. + Investments in rural water supply, rural/community forestry, and development of labor- saving technology for women (both for their productive and household responsibilities) assume particular importance, since women's excessive workload constitutes a binding constraint on poverty reduction (Chapter 4). 37. Food Security: Cornerstone of Poverty Reduction. The basis for a comprehensive food security' strategy consists primarily of appropriate agriculture, small enterprise, and infiatructure policies, aimed at raising incomes and employment, and improving the efficiency of the entire food system. The absence of public or private support to small-scale food producers is at the heart of Cameroon's present food insecurity (Chapter 4). Poverty reduction in Cameroon can be greatly accelerated by stimulating agricultural growth in the traditional smallbolder sector and the labor-intensive sectors of agro-industrial activities which absorb about 700/o of total agricultural land and labor. To promote micro-enterprises in the agro- industrial sector, there is a need to facilitate the emergence of profitable and labor-intensive processing and marketing activities, which link producers to suppliers of inputs, processing chains, and marketing agents. A significant increase in food production is a pre-requisite for food security in Cameroon. Specific actions could include the following: 4 make accessible to small-scale female farmers a "productivity-package" including fertilizers, improved seeds, pest and weed control chemicals-this could be undertaken by experienced NGOs to ensure appropriate targeting and minimum leakage of the program, while facilitating access by poor farmers to these critical inputs; 4 promote the use of animal traction in agriculture and use of ox-carts for trade and transport of organic fertilizers; make accessible small equipment, agricultural and veterinary extension, and institutionalized support for harvesting, processing, and marketing; 4 promote livestock production through the provision of basic veterinary services, pasture management and credit marketing facilities-fees for services as well as taxes from cattle markets and slaughterhouses could be used to improve livestock production. 38. Nurition. To offset the high prevalence of micronutrient deficiency diseases, nutrition interventions should have a very high priority (Box 7). Specific nutrition interventions should include actions to: promote breast feeding, iodization of salt, distribution of semi-annual mass dose of vitamin A, daily oral iron for pregnant women, and eradication campaigns for intestinal parsites; promotion of use of red palm oil to combat vitamin A deficiency; nutrition education in conjunction with income-generating projects; urban gardening for vegetable and fruit production for home consumption; and integration of growth monitoring into a national T The concept of food security at the national level is used in this assessment in a broad sense, and refcrs to the entire food system (production, marketing, processing), which should be able to supply affordable and predominantly locally grown food to urban centers, to ensure adequate nutritional intake for all the population at all times, and even develop food exports. This has been to-date, and should continue to be, principally undertaken by small-scale (mostly female) producers and processors of cereals, roots, tubers and pulses. xvii surveillance program. In addition, reorganization, equipment and funding of national and provincial institutions responsible for community nutrition are necessary, so as to promote support to research on the determinants of maternal and child malnutrition, baseline surveys before interventions, development of techniques for monitoring and evaluation of the impact of nutrition interventions, and poverty projects. 39. Environmental and Land Tenure Box 7. "Enriching Lives" Issucs. For an agro-pastoral country like Cameroon, having access rights to land and Micronutrient programs [arm among the most cost- land-based resources is a crucial factor in effective of all health interventions. Deficiencies of just determining how people will ensure their vitamin A, iodine, and iron could waste as much as 5 basic livelihood. In the context of a longer- percent of GDP, but addressing them comprehensively and sustainably would cost less than 0.3 percent of GDP. term perspective on poverty reduction in Probably no other technology available today offers as Cameroon, it is important to understand large an opportunity to improve lives and accelerate trends in land administration and to assess development at such low cost and in such a short time. whether the patterns that emerge provide consistent policies for sustaining the livelihood of poor people. In most local communities, land represents much more than an economic factor of production, and the attachment of rural populations to their land, no matter how fragmented, is the primary underpinning of their social status. 40. In its present form, land registration is leading to a situation where those who do not need the land for their livelihood are the In Nso, there is uneasiness that the "commoditization" of ones who register their shares. This pattern land and escalating prices will lead to the marginalization of landholding creates further scarcity for if not outright disenfranchisement of small nural rural people (Box 8). Over 50% of those producers, the majority of whom are women. Since women are viewed as competent to manage the crops but who registered land in 1974-1985 were not to own the fields, the trend toward privatization has public servants. Though about 65% of undermined women's secure rights of usufruct under the Cameroonians live in rural areas, only 5% traditional tenure scheme. The 1974 land ordinances, of registered land holders were farmers. though expressly instituted to clarify land use rights and . give small farmers security of tenure with a view to More striking is that women were virtually encouraging expansion, have instead created increasing absent from the land registers, with 3.2% of stratification between uneducated village farmers and the registered titles in the North West Province, better-educated rich farmers, by virtue of their ambiguous representing barely 0.1% of the registered content and relationship to customary tenure. land mass. Disturbingly, the practices of these new elites reduce the amount of land available to smaliholders and limit the amount of capital invested in food production. 41. Increasing land scarcity, changes in the patterns of land ownership and use, and the co-existence of multiple legal and customary frameworks for addressing land issues, present a critical long-term challenge for Cameroon. There is a risk of growing landlessness among the poor, and with it an incapacity to sustain livelihoods. Land policies need to be grounded in Cameroon's very diversity, and build at least initially on explicit recognition of functioning customary arrangements. This can be achieved if local institutions are identified as providing the framework for land administration at the local level. The principal task of the Government would be to define the general policy framework and to deternine the extent to which local institutional and regulatory frameworks are compatible with its wider vision for the sustainable management of natural resources. Specific issues and operational parameters would be developed by the local communities themselves. xviii 42. Decentralization of decision-making and daily administration of land matters to the local and regional levels would further strengthen accountability and stakeholder participation in regulating land use rights. Several measures can be taken by the Government to address the issues of land ownership and land use rights raised in this assessment. These include: 4 Urban Land, Since an important market has developed for urban and peri-urban lands, the Government should define certain priority urban areas for systematic identification of rights, cadastral survey, and registration. Land titling schemes in urban and peri-urban areas are a financially sustainable process which should allow the Government to obtain fiscal revenue from property taxation, while contributing to improving the progessiveness of the tax system. 4 Women's and Herders' Rights. The special case of the use rights of women and the grazing rights of herders should be given protection by refusing to validate any individual exclusionary claims over usufructs. 4 Family Land. Without prejudice to their rights of access as members of the family, the urban elite should only be given legal titles over family land if there is proof of effective occupation, which should be a pre-requisite for private registration of group-held lands, especially in rural areas. Specific group-held lands (such as ancestral graves and sacred groves), which carry spiritual connotations, should not be the subject of private land holding under state law. 4 Further Research. The different modes of acquisition of customary rights should be the subject of further analysis to understand more clearly the implications of the exclusion of some groups for sustaining the livelihood of the poor. This analysis should address the vexing question of how to reconcile the preferences for flexibility in use rights under customary law (which do not change the nature of claims on land) with the need for longer-term, stable investment, which new modes of land use such as tree planting represent, to strengthen the productive capacity of the land over time. 43. Poverty Monitoring. It is important that a systematic program for developing poverty monitoring capacity, including regular in-depth and follow-up surveys, be implemented (Annex II). The Household Budget Survey (ECAM) should be carried out in 1995/96 to provide a basis for more accurate measurement of consumption trends throughout the country and how households have responded to the economic crisis of recent years. This will also provide an important initial measure of the impact of the devaluation on household-level income and consumption. It is recommended that participatory poverty assessments become an integral part of the Government's institutional approach to poverty reduction, and a core instrument of partnership with local NGOs and interest groups. PPAs should be designed and implemented at the local level, so that local perceptions, preoccupations, and priorities can be articulated. Support could also be given to institutionalizing the organization of an annual review of the Government's poverty reduction strategy, including monitoring of progress in meeting established targets and objectives. A report and workshop on poverty trends in the country, based on local-level assessments, surveys, and observatories, could be organized annually with a view to formulating a synthesis of results and findings of relevance to policymakers in monitoring trends and in defining poverty reduction measures. ' \2t ;t l I Cl ist mw: * +A! I Economic Peronnlance in Historical Persyective I. Introduction: The country conteXt 1.1. Caneroon is a country of striking diversity and tantalizing potential. Its regions abound in variety-in geography, climate, people, culture, religion, language, education and economic structure. Despite its natural and human endowments, for the last few years the country has slipped into a profound crisis marked by economic collapse, political and social transition, and a silent crisis of deepening poverty. Early in 1994, the country embarked-along with the other countries of the CFA franc zone-on a new economic course that has begun to reverse the economic downturn. For policy makers concerned with poverty reduction, a unique opportunity and a daunting challenge lie ahead. They must answer the usual questions that policy makers face everywhere. Who is poor? In what ways are they poor? How do they gain their livelihood? How can they be reached? How can they be helped out of poverty? But these basic questions must be answered in a way that is alive to Cameroon's diversity, to the constraints imposed by past economic collapse, and to the overriding need for the new economic policies to achieve long-term success. Box 1.1: The Challenge ofDiversity Cameroon embraces vast ecological and climatic diversity, with the most visible differences displayed between south and north, and is endowed with exceptional bio-diversity. The country's ethnic tapestry is similarly complex, and represents both an opportunity and a challenge to the country's development. The population is one of the most ethnically, linguistically, and culturally diverse and complex in Africa with some 200 ethnic groups, each with distinct languages, customs and social structures. The largest group, the Bamileke (roughly 1.5 million), is based in the West and North West Provinces, and dominates commerce and industry. Another group, the Beti, in the Center and South Provinces, controls the Govermment. The north of the country is predominantly Muslim, with Sudanese, Foulbe, Hausa and Arab Choa peoples. Below the Bantu line live groups such as the Beti (Eton, Ewondo), Boulou and Fang, with the Bassa, Douala and Bakoko predominating in the coastal plains around Douala. In the south there are some indigenous forest dwellers, hunting-and-gathering societies. Of those who speak one or both of the official languages (the great majority of Carneroonians), about 80%o are francophone and 20% anglophone. Around 60% of the population is estimated to be animist, 35% Christian (20% Roman Catholic) and S% Muslim. 1.2. Finding policies that can trigger broad-based sustainable economic growth and create a climate for investment in human resources-the two mainstays of any successful poverty reduction strategy-will be a complex endeavor. Finding poverty reduction policies tailored to the sharply contrasted circumstances of men, women and children in Cameroon's many environments can only be done through a painstaking and sustained attention to the specificity of local conditions, and the distinctive characteristics and constraints faced by people in different regions and circumstances. To succeed in long-term poverty reduction, policy makers will be challenged to find approaches that respect the constraints and exploit the opportunities presented by diversity (Box 1.1), that learn from the sometimes disappointing lessons of the past, and that 2 contribute to the long term success and sustainability of newly-embraced economic policies. Above all, policy makers must find ways to put the poor themselves at the forefront of their concerns and actions. II. Economic Performance: Tie Questfor Growth 1.3. In its past, Cameroon has experienced episodes of sustained high growth, suggesting that a set of economic and social policies can be found to help achieve one of the main prerequisites for successful and sustained poverty reduction. From 1967 until 1978, GDP and national income growth averaged 5.7%, and even though annual population growth of 2.7% greatly eroded this result in per capita terms, it was still possible to achieve 2% annual increases in private consumption per capita, a buoyant resource base for Government, and a rising savings rate (Figure 1.1). Figure 1.1 Long Term Movements in Output and Consumption CFAF 400,000 CFAF 350,000 CFAF 300,000 CFAF 250,000 -5---- GDP per capita CFAF 200,000 E Private Consumption per CFAF 150,000 capita CFAF 100,000 . CFAF 50,000 CFAF 0 -n - O_ - es - - - t - n - - - - - 1.4. In the late 1970s, the terms of international trade moved in Cameroon's favor, and the pace of income growth was stepped up sharply, averaging to 10.1% until 1985. Population growth was a little higher at 2.9% annually, but the growth of private consumption per capita attained 5.4%, Government finances remained buoyant and the savings rate rose even higher. In many respects, Cameroon's economic performance matched that of the much-praised East Asian economies and came close to that of Indonesia and Malaysia. These last two countries are instructive comparisons for Carneroon: they have comparable natural resources and export potential to Cameroon and achieved rapid reductions in poverty since the mid 1960s. 1.5. From 1985 until 1993 there was a sharp and well-documented reversal in economic performance. GDP per capita declined by 6.3% per year from 1985 to 1993 and this translated into a 6.0% rate of decline in private consumption per capita. Cumulatively, this represents a drop in average per capita consumption of over 40% in eight years-a collapse that has been one of the most painful that any country, developing or developed, has ever suffered, particularly coming after the expectations raised by the extended period of growth over the previous two decades. 1.6. Investment dropped from 25% of GDP to 10%. The balance of payments moved from a surplus (current account) equivalent to 4.7% of GDP in 1985 to a deficit averaging over 9% in 3 1991-93. The tax base shrank along with GDP and revenues at the end of the period stood at below half their level at the beginning of the period. Because of the difficulty and delays in bringing expenditure into line with the diminished tax base, public debt was incurred at an unprecedented rate. 1.7. The decline in Cameroon's economic situation can be attributed in part to highly unfavorable external factors, notably the drop in export prices, declines in petroleum exports and revenues, and the high level of foreign debt service. Such factors were very important in precipitating and extending the downturn. From 1985 to 1988, Cameroon's external terms of trade fell by over a half, implying that export volume would have had to double to pay for a constant volume of imports. Since then, the terms of trade have declined even further, though not at the disheartening pace of the mid 1980s. For producers of agricultural export crops, the income effect of the decline in export prices has been two-fold. The direct loss of income from falling prices was compounded by lower output in response to reduced profitability. For Government, the decline in petroleum prices was an important element of the collapse of the tax base. Debt service was also a severe problem for the Government and caused disruption in the economy more generally. Most external debt service could not be paid, forcing the Govemment into rescheduling or other formal debt service reduction agreements. In parallel, there was also a large build-up of internal debt service arrears and of public sector payment arrears. This reduced access to financing and caused a general climate of uncertainty among potential private sector lenders and suppliers who are, not unexpectedly, very sensitive to such arrears and late payments. Figure 1.2 Long Term Trends in the Real Effective Exchange Rate and the Terms of Trade i80 160-P 140 120 100 o Terms of Trade someivns RIs8 Effective Exchange 60 40 20 o - e' ( c toa ?I t.0 a0 0 - an rtWo r, - 0 0 - ~.F - F- -= - - F- -s - - - - - - - - - - - -a - - 1.. The difficult extemnal environment was compounded by a marked loss of economic competitiveness. In 1985, Camneroon's real effective exchange rate--the weighted average exchange rate adjusted to allow for different rates of inflation in trade partners and competitors, thus a good proxy for measuring a country's competitiveness-moved sharply upwards (Figure 1.2). The main causes of the change were beyond Caneroon's control: the appreciation of the 4 French franc within the European Monetary System, carrying with it the CFA franc and the decision of the Nigerian Government to devalue the naira in 1985/86. The impact of the change was to raise the costs of production in Cameroon in foreign currency equivalent terms. This left exporters unable to compete in world markets, resulting in rapid losses of market share for the main exports, while producers for the domestic market found themselves less able to compete with imports. Coming at the same time as the decline in the prices of many of Cameroon's main exports-when a depreciation of the real effective exchange rate and a gain in competitiveness were warranted-the loss of competitiveness struck a sharp blow throughout the economy. 1.9. Within the CFA zone as a whole, the absence of prompt and effective adjustment measures to counteract the loss of competitiveness can be seen, in Cameroon's case, to have set in motion the long decline in GDP and in all other macro-economic aggregates, though the length and depth of the decline reflect the interaction of many other economic, social, and political variables. Despite the difficult external circumstances, it might have been possible to avoid such a prolonged down-turn if adjustment within the CFA zone had occurred sooner. This is evident in comparing the 1988-92 GDP (and per capita) growth experience of Cameroon and Nigeria, as Nigeria has a roughly comparable natural resource endowment and faces similar external conditions. The failure to stay competitive and grow now presents policy makers with a far greater poverty challenge than a decade ago, while the resource base available to them, and consequently the margins for maneuver, are greatly diminished. 111. ThC Past as Prologue: Learnin,gfrom the Past 1.10. Cameroon's economic history as an independent nation falls into two radically different periods: one of rapid and sustained growth, the other of prolonged and deep decline. Each period has valuable lessons for any future poverty reduction strategy. In addition, the evolution of labor market conditions over the past ten years and the dynamics of labor supply suggest a number of priorities for policy makers. These subjects are taken up in Chapter 6. When the Economy was Growing, What was the Poverty Outcome? 1.11. Throughout the 1965-85 period, Cameroon enjoyed high-and at times very high - economic growth. Its performance was praised by outside observers, including the World Bank. Yet the 1983/84 Household Expenditure Survey found both a high degree of absolute poverty in the rural areas and a marked inequality in the distribution of incomes, whether within rural areas, within urban areas, or in Cameroon as a whole. Little is known about levels of poverty or the distribution of incomes in the mid 1960s before the long period of growth began. Nonetheless, it is clear that a high rate of economic growth was not sufficient to eliminate rural poverty or achieve a more even distribution of incomes in the 1965-85 period. With Cameroon recently embarked on a new economic strategy that can potentially re-spark economic growth, it is important to understand why growth alone is not sufficient, and what might be done differently in future to ensure that growth translates into poverty reduction. 1.12. In retrospect, there are several striking features about economic performance during the two decades prior to 1985 that converged to reduce the impact of growth on poverty reduction. These mostly center on a perceptible and widening imbalance between rural and urban areas, an issue that was well known at the time. Contemporary economic documents discuss the problems arising from a rural exodus. A renewed awareness of the main shortcomings of this period can 5 offer valuable guidance for policy makers in charting a future course. Essentially, the key poverty reduction lessons of the period can be summarized as follows: < Need to maximize income opportunities for the poor from agricultural growth. Agricultural growth was strong throughout the period, averaging around 4.5% annually, but the distribution of the benefits of this growth was very uneven. Smallholder agriculture-the most labor intensive part of the sector, and the primary livelihood of many poor women-fared reasonably well, but could not match the growth of other parts of the sector or the economy. In the sector overall, the share of labor in agricultural value added declined and agricultural wages grew less rapidly than output. Moreover, there was high taxation of agriculture, especially toward the end of the period. Opportunities for off-farm employment were missed, too. The purchasing monopsony of ONCPB and the promotional activities of parastatals such as SODECOTON or SODECAO gave parastatals economic control over key activities or indeed the whole sequence from farn to port. In other cases, development was built around large public corporations such as HEVECAM, SOCAPALM, CDC, or CAMSUCO that engaged in direct production. The promotional activities of such parastatals helped raise production, but often they followed approaches that did not maximize demand for labor, using instead capital-intensive methods based on privileged access to credit. Moreover, the exclusion of private competitors from many of the marketing, processing and export activities for the main export crops meant that opportunities for employment generation were missed. 4 The focus on employment generation in the industrial sector benefited a narrow section of the labor force. The expansion of the industrial sector was rapid in 1964-85, averaging around 10% annually. Industrial employment grew rapidly from a small base, reaching around 9% of the labor force by the mid 1980s. Around 20,000 new workers joined the industrial labor force annually in the peak period of expansion from 1980-84. It is noteworthy that the industrial labor force was and is overwhelmingly urban and male, while poverty was concentrated in the rural areas and among women. The opportunity cost of industrial development was high, as the sector attracted a disproportionate share of investment resources and was thus relatively high-cost in terms of employment creation. 4 A tendency to favor capital-intensive methods over labor-intensive ones. Cameroon's overall incentive structure during this period tended to subsidize interest rates and other costs of credit and lower the taxation of capital goods, while adding to the costs of labor through labor market regulation. Incentives were intended to expand overall economic activity and thus employment. Regulations aimed at labor protection were well-intentioned, aimed at improving conditions and security of employment. The effect of structuring incentives in this way gave little impetus to employers to use labor- intensive methods or to expand hiring. It was noted at the time that industrial development, although rapid, could have led to even more rapid growth of employment, reflecting the bias in favor of capital-intensive technologies. In addition, the choice of technology in the construction of public infrastructure did not aim at maximizing the employment impact, especially in the years of the oil boom. 6 4 An urban preference in the choice of public investments. Cameroon's investment rate rose to above 25% in the 1980s, reflecting a willingness to defer current consumption in favor of future growth. The choice of investment projects and the share of total investment were tilted in favor of urban areas. Though the distinction between rural and urban populations is fluid, and significant changes in both migratory and resource flows are occurring, there is nonetheless a clear pattern in investmnents. Many of the investments responded to important community needs or demands, including water supply, sanitation, urban roads and the like. At the same time, similar needs in rural areas were not addressed. As a result, rural areas lagged in many basic social or other public services. 4 A lag in human resource investment in rural areas. There was a large build-up of public investment and public spending throughout the period, and in particular during the years of the oil boom. It is to Camneroon's credit that part of this build-up was directed towards improved health services and education. However, there was a lag in service provision in rural areas where most of the poor were to be found, while service provision was strengthened most in urban areas. This lag showed up clearly at the time of the 1987 population census, which found that 46% of rural women and 29% of rural men born between 1962 and 1972 (the 15-24 age group) had not completed primary school, whereas the respective rates for the urban areas were 15% and 8%. Much of the educational expenditure went into higher levels of education to meet the demands of the industrial sector.' 1.13. As all the above shortcomings were acknowledged at the time, it may come as no surprise now that there remained a high level of rural poverty. Nor should the history of the period be reinterpreted negatively because of this. The achievement of rapid and sustained growth did occur, it did benefit many Cameroonians, there was a buoyant demand for labor overall, and the demand pull of urban labor markets-part of the rural exodus equation-brought benefits to many. Education and health services were improved, and social indicators improved. The lesson for the future is simple: poverty reduction cannot be assured by growth alone; how and where growth takes place, where investment is channeled, and who benefits and who loses are equally important dimensions. What are the Lessons for Poverty Reduction from the 1985-93 Period? 1.14. International conditions made the late 1980s very difficult for many developed and developing countries alike, but particularly so for Cameroon. Poverty reduction during this period would have been more difficult whatever the choice of economic policies. For Cameroon, the difficulty of responding and adjusting economically to more difficult international circumstances proved disastrous at the macroeconomic level and this translated directly into deeper poverty and more difficult living conditions for Cameroonians at all echelons of society. In this section, it is argued that the extent of impoverishment was increased by the ways in which economic policy was implemented in the period. Moreover, the burden of impoverishment fell unevenly, thus afflicting some already poor households more seriously than other less vulnerable ones. Understanding the economic policies and mechanisms that lay behind this process is important for the design of future policies. Thus, the features of economic policy that contributed I Regional disparities in human development are the subject of Chapter 6 and Annex V. 7 to negative poverty outcomes are presented below not to highlight the difficulty of Cameroon's present situation, but to pinpoint areas where different approaches in future could lead to better poverty reduction outcomes. 1.15. Throughout 1985-93, economic policy was directed primarily toward the objective of economic adjustment by internal measures, that is to say, without use of the exchange rate as a policy tool. The collapse of commodity prices in 1985, the appreciation of the French franc, taking with it the CFA franc, and the gains in competitiveness by Nigeria since 1985, all necessitated that Cameroon respond purposefully to regain its competitive position in the world and in the regional economy. The collective unwillingness of the countries of the CFA zone to use the exchange rate mechanism until 1994 left little option for Cameroon but to apply strong internal adjustment policies. These implied forcing down nominal wages and prices through austere fiscal and monetary policies, while seeking to raise productivity through structural reforms. Poverty Reduction Requires Growth, Growth Requires Competitiveness 1.16. The choice of an internal adjustment strategy and the way in which it was implemented proved, in hindsight, to be extremely negative from a poverty perspective. The first point to note about the poverty impact of the strategy is that it failed in its main economic objective, namely to restore competitiveness. In part, this reflected inadequate focus directly on competitiveness in the early years of the period when subsidiary goals-fiscal balance and containment of inflation-were seen as the principal objectives, and there was not adequate attention to implementing accompanying structural reforms. By 1992, the real effective exchange rate stood at 162 (on the basis of 1985 = 100), though it would have been necessary for it to fall to 38 to match the terms of trade movement. The loss of competitiveness meant that agricultural export markets continued to be lost, while domestic food crops and industrial goods systematically were unable to compete with imports. The loss of product markets was reflected in lower demand for labor, and this limited the employment and income possibilities for all Cameroonians. The loss of export markets and reduced demand for agricultural labor were particularly painful for rural areas, while loss of manufacturing demand mostly affected urban areas. At the same time, falling demand for domestically produced food reduced income opportunities for farmers-often rural women already living in poverty-while the downward pressure on food prices lowered the cost of living for those in urban areas, including those whose incomes were sustained by the public payroll. 1.17. Second, it is questionable whether the strategy could have succeeded. For small corrections in competitiveness or to prevent erosion of competitiveness on a continuing basis, internal adjustments represent a feasible, perhaps even preferred, option over exchange rate adjustment. Internal measures consist ideally of a combination of demand compression and fiscal austerity to prevent inflation, coupled with structural measures to lower production costs. The effort to compress wages and prices in Camneroon sufficiently to make up the wide gap in competitiveness resulted in a protracted deep recession. The loss of internal economic activity and labor demand bore extremely heavily on the poor working in activities geared to intemal markets-trade and marketing, personal services, traditional cereals and other foods produced and sold locally. Again, these are activities where many of the poor-especially poor women- earn their livelihood. The strategy implied slack demand for labor, downward pressure on wages and prices across the board, as well as a risk of unemployment. Thus, demand for labor in both external and domestic product markets was compressed for an extended period when labor 8 supply was growing rapidly. The result was a reduction in income opportunities for those already living and working in poverty while creating a class of new poor among those who either lost or failed to gain employment as a result of internal adjustment efforts. Macroecononuc Policis Hindered Poverty Reduction 1.18. Monetary and Credit Policy: The Crowding-Out of Credit to the Productive Economy. As part of the intemal adjustment strategy, demand compression was implemented in large part through an austere monetary policy including tight ceilings on aggregate credit from the banking system. The way in which monetary objectives- particularly the need to contain credit-were implemented may have contributed further to the reduction in labor demand and the increase in poverty. During the 1985-93 period, domestic credit contracted from around CFAF 900 billion to less than CFAF 750 billion. Even if this contraction had been evenly shared across all credit recipients, it would have implied a difficult adjustment for the economy. However, within the total, the amount of credit to Govermment and Government agencies was allowed to rise, forcing the private sector to adjust not only to the overall reduction in credit but also to the increasing demand for credit by Government. (Figure 1.3) Figure 13 1.19. The reduction in credit to the private sector influenced the poor most through the trickle-down effect of s so X P s reduced economic activity and 120 employment. The poor had and still have almost no direct access to credit from the banking system throughout the period. 1000 -O tot Indeed, it is striking that in practically all s detailed analyses of the constraints faced so NCrdt to the by the poor-women farmers, new P P Setor informal enterprises, small holder export eoo crop producers, small traders-their | demand for credit is not met by the 400 banking system, but has instead to be met by own savings, family loans, 20 tontines, mutual savings associations, credit from traders or suppliers, or other o non-bank sources. Even in a setting where the private sector has been crowded out by the public sector, the -200 poor were generally further crowded out 1988/87 1992/93 by established enterprises and larger borrowers.2 2 According to one esfimate, infomual institutions account for more than one-quarter of domestic financial sector cedit nd more than one-half of total financial savings (Schrieder and Cueva 1992). 9 1.20. Incomplete Structural Measures Deferred Benefits. Many areas of Cameroon's economy required structural reforms in the 1985-93 period: agricultural policies and the role of the parastatals, banking reform and credit policies, trade policies, incentive policies, education sector policies, and labor market policies. Many of these areas had a key role in internal adjustment, both in lowering production costs and in refocusing the Government's priorities and service provision. To the extent that incomplete reforms impeded economic growth or failed to bring about an improvement in the quality of public services, they also fell short in contributing to a poverty reduction strategy. Thus, the continuing presence of, say, a non-competitive public enterprise in the marketing or transport of an export crop eroded the margin available for farmers and inhibited both the income potential of that crop and the supply of exports. Similarly, a protective tariff (or non-tariff barrier) may help one Cameroonian enterprise survive but at the expense of a generalized increase in the cost of the particular item for all consumers-a case that could have a negative poverty impact if the product is one consumed widely by the poor. IV. FiSCal Policy: unbalanced syendi& Cuts and Priorities 1.21. Consistent with the internal adjustment strategy, there was a need to contain Government's primary fiscal deficit throughout the 1985-93 period. In reality, this effort failed. There was a drop in the overall fiscal deficit early on as a result of a sharp cut back in investment spending. But from 1987/8 onwards, the overall deficit remained at or above CFAF 210 billion every year but one, and is targeted at approximately the same level (slightly higher) for 1993/94. Only toward the end of 1993, following two civil service wage cuts amounting to around 60% of salaries, was it possible to make a substantial reduction in the deficit. Overall, the weakness of the fiscal adjustment effort was a major factor in the failure of intemal adjustment and thus in circumscribing the scope for poverty reduction. 1.22. In addition to the overall impact of fiscal deficits, the way in which fiscal adjustment was attempted proved very harmful to the poor. Reflecting in part reduced economic activity, in part a slackening of tax collection, revenues declined steadily throughout the period.3 As a result, expenditures were under repeated pressure. However, within expenditure some items were not easily compressed. The wage bill was stable or at times rising throughout the period, except in late 1993 (Figure 1.4). Instead, cuts tended to be made in materials, supplies and counterpart funds for externally financed development projects. It is now a rare exception to find public sector facilities-schools, hospitals, clinics-with adequate supplies to fulfill their expected task unless these are supplied by a foreign donor. The views of the poor confirm this finding (Chapter 3). Local Government officials speak of extreme difficulties, and there is a widespread perception that services are less well supplied (and that salaries are less promptly paid) in the regions than in the main cities. This choice of spending priorities-perhaps forced politically- became a clear block to poverty reduction. It allowed public sector incomes-already well above those in other sectors-to be sustained in nominal terms (increased in real terms as food and other prices were falling). At the same time, it lowered the capability of the public sector to deliver essential services, especially in the more impoverished and isolated areas. 3 The understandable reduction in revenues at a time of economic crisis notwithstanding, the overall tax effort in Cameroon remains low, and compares unfavorably with other countries in the region. The principal problems of the current fiscal regime are the complexity of the system and the combination of high nominal tax rates and excessive exemptions. In the medium term, ... the objective should be to simplify the tax system and to enlarge the tax base while simultaneously reducing tax rates (World Bank 1990a). 10 Figure 1.4 1.23. Data on public expenditure allocations are incomplete, and though there has been some improvement in monitoring investment outlays, much remains to be done to develop a capacity for coherent budget 90 Revenues monitoring and analysis. From a poverty 800 R perspective, the incidence of expenditures on Q 700 _ Wage Bill different socio-economic groups identified in 2 600 the poverty profile (Chapter 2), as well as the U. U< 500 pattern of expenditures in different regions of u the country, provides a measure of the impact : 400 of public expenditure on the poor. Existing *- 30 budget systems in Cameroon do not permit m 200 analysis beyond broad trends and proxy 100 measures. A public investment review (PIR) 0 was carried out in 1990 (World Bank 1990a), LO co o X 0 0 N X and a tax reform strategy was articulated in X In a - a O o li0 co co coC oc m m 1991 (World Bank 1991b). The conclusions and recommendations of these studies remain largely valid today. More recently, the Bank undertook analysis of budgets aimed at estimating "minimum" budget allocations in four key sectors (agriculture, road maintenance, health, and education), and has articulated both the critical need for, and high priority to be given to, carrying out a public expenditure review (PER) in 1995. The summary analysis which follows is drawn primarily from these sources.4 1.24. Analysis of public expenditures portrays a trend of increasing stress on public budgets. Data from 1989/90 to 1991/92, reveal the significant trends in recent public expenditure patterns (Annex I Tables 2 and 3). The trend of declining allocations to poverty-focused sectors is maintained in the budget allocations for the 1993/94 budget and the recently approved 1994/95 budget. The principal characteristics of the public budget situation in Cameroon can be summarized as follows. Over the 1989-92 period, total expenditures increased in nominal terms by 21%, but capital expenditures fell by 68%, or from 6% to 2% of total expenditures. The share of expenditures for the social sectors, transport, and urban development fell sharply (Table 1.1). 1.25. There has been a continued squeezing out of non-salary expenditures to cover salary costs.5 Data for this period confirm not only that salaries continued to rise as a share of total recurrent expenditures, but that the already negligible (and dwindling) share of non-salary expenditures precluded the effective provision of, for example critical non-salary inputs, such as medicines, textbooks, and equipment. Actual non-wage expenditures in 1992/93, the last year for which data are available, represented only 5% of total expenditures for education, and 13% for agriculture and health. 4 Apart from these aggregate trends, and in view of the planned 1995 PER, this assessnent does not attempt to address public finance issues exhaustively. Instead, it aims to indicate areas of particular concern for poverty reduction, which, data permitting, should be a key focus of the planned PER and policy dialogue with the Govenmment. S The impact of the cumulative 60ff/ reduction in public sector salaries on this trend requires further analysis in the framework of the PER. I1 Table 1.1 Change in Share of Public Expenditures Selected Sectors, 1989/90-1991/92 (in percent) Sector Total Non-Salay Primary/Secondary Education -13 -38 Health -23 -70 Public Works and Transport -29 -66 Water and Energy 45 45 Urban Devt. and Housing -67 -83 Higher Education +26 +60 Source: AF3CI estimates. 1.26. Regional differences in budget allocations and actual expenditures cannot be appreciated directly through analysis of budget data, though various proxies (such as the share of "central" as distinct from "peripheral" services in budgets, and the regional distribution of, for example, health sector personnel) suggest a strong degree of centralization and strong regional disparities in resource allocations.6 1.27. Actual expenditures bear little or no relationship to initial budget allocations, especially as this applies to non-salary recurrent and investment expenditures. Even recent trends in budget allocations do not indicate any shift in the composition toward priority development sectors, but rather the reverse. Recurrent expenditure budget allocations for 1994/95 have declined for agriculture, the social sectors, and other development sectors, while those for national sovereignty and environment ministries have increased. Recurrent expenditures for primary and secondary education have fallen by 34% over the 1993/94 allocation, and, with the exception of environment and forestry (+25%), similar trends are observed in other development ministries: agriculture (-39%), health (-26%), transport (-37%), labor and social insurance (-40%), and social and women's affairs (-44%). It therefore appears that budget allocations continue to favor sectors and activities which, prima facie, are not focused on poverty reduction, thus reinforcing the urgency of substantial restructuring of public expenditures if progress is to be made in poverty reduction. 1.28. It is still too early to assess the impact of, and response to, the devaluation. Preliminary estimates suggest that agricultural exports, the primary beneficiary of the devaluation, rose by 11% in 1994, and that there have been increased exports of rice, millet, and cattle to Nigeria. However, inflation (Chapter 2) and the recent export taxes on coffee (25%), cocoa, rubber, and cotton (15%), tea and bananas, can be expected to dilute the positive impact of the devaluation. V. Concluson: Uneven EffeCtS Of Rccession 1.29. Although Cameroon's experience in 1985-93 was extremely painful for almost all its citizens, the pain was not evenly shared. In the absence of an effective strategy, adjustment was forced and disorderly, and there were harsh inequalities. By and large, the poor suffered first, while better-off groups suffered relatively late in the process. A small group may not have 6 For examnple, "central" services absorb 62% of the health and 47% of the education budget, and 'peripheral" services 38% and 53% respectively (SADEG 1994). 12 suffered at all. The overall picture is complex, but some of the key events of the period had a clearly differentiated impact: 4 Poverty in 1983/84 was concentrated in rural areas. Between 1985/86 and 1992/93, cocoa producer prices were cut by 51%, robusta coffee prices by 77%, arabica coffee prices by 58% and cotton prices by 34%. Together, these crops represent the major source of cash income for about 60% of rural households. Households without assets beyond labor and agricultural land-some of the poorest in Cameroon-saw their income possibilities shrink dramatically.7 + Food prices followed agricultural export prices down, though more gradually and not as far. This weighed most heavily on women, who produce most of the nation's food. + Workers in informal activities-whether in urban or rural areas-rely on the trickle- down of urban incomes to generate demand for their services, but are vulnerable to rural- urban migration if living conditions decline in rural areas. In the 1985-93 period, there was a systematic squeeze on their earnings, mitigated somewhat by the decline in food and other prices. Those without assets beyond their own labor and perhaps a small piece of land have been vulnerable, and women who have less than full discretion in their use of time were especially vulnerable. 4- aIndustrial workers, who are preponderantly male, experienced some drop in nominal wages during the period but benefited from the falling cost of living. 4 Civil servants, who are also preponderantly male, experienced no pay cuts until 1993. For most of the period they experienced rising real incomes as prices of foods, rents, and many services fell. 4 Some groups did not experience a loss of nominal income: employees of public enterprises and the military, for example, still receive unadjusted salaries, and have benefited in terms of real incomes as prices have fallen. Again, these forms of employment are dominated by male workers. 1.30. The above typology cannot fully capture the dynamics of the impoverishment process since 1985. Households adapt, and typically they have sought survival strategies to diversify their income options and reduce their vulnerability to known risks. Nonetheless, it is clear that the global loss of income has been overwhelming, especially for those with the least diversification options. A clear lesson from this experience is that economic downturns are not equal in their effect, that the poor may be among the first to suffer, and that there is a need not only to recognize the varying speed with which different groups are affected but also their ability to adapt to new and perhaps more difficult circumstances. The implications of these lessons of recent economic performance for a poverty reduction strategy in Cameroon will be addressed in Chapter 8. 7 There are many people in rural areas who either do not have access to land or who have insufficient resources (land, labor, capital) to produce export crops. These would typically be worse off than farmers who are able to produce export crops. 2 An Income/EXyenditure Profile of Povert I. Introductiopt 2.1. This chapter presents an income/expenditure poverty profile for Cameroon based on available data, and aims to offer some insight into how poverty has evolved over the last decade.' Part II will outline a poverty profile based on household-level consumption data from the Household Budget Survey (HBS) of 1983/84. This is the only national-level household data source available for the profile, and it provides a detailed, and regionally disaggregated, picture of poverty for the period when Cameroon was at the height of the oil-led economic boom. To take account of Cameroon's recent economic collapse, which was discussed in Chapter 1, Part III will examine poverty trends since 1983/84, and, within the limitations of available data, update the profile defined in Part II to 1993.2 Part IV provides preliminary analysis of the short-term effects of two recent economic policy measures that have far-reaching implications for households and for the economy: the November 1993 cuts (of about 40%) in Government salaries, and the January 1994 devaluation (by 50%) of the CFA franc. Further information on data sources and methodology is presented in Annex III. 2.2. Quantitative data, while not entirely absent, are both limited and in some respects out-of- date. The choice of the 1983-93 period for purposes of comparison is dictated solely by the availability of data from the 1983 Household Budget Survey (HBS) and the 1993 surveys in Yaounde and Douala, which provide the principal quantitative benchmarks for this assessment. It is important to note that, as indicated in Chapter 1, the evolution between 1983 and 1993 in fact masks two sub-periods, which cannot be dated precisely owing to data limitations. The turning point occurred around 1986, with the period 1983-86 constituting the end of the boom period spurred by high petroleum revenues and high agricultural export prices. To avoid bias in interpreting the data, every effort has been made to place recent trends-economic (Chapter 1); income/consumption (Chapter 2); nutrition (Chapter 4); and human development (Chapter 6}- in a broader historical context, drawing, where possible, on data from the 1960s and 1970s. Part 11 of this assessment, on 'systemic" poverty issues, also contributes to the "profile" of poverty in Cameroon. Food insecurity is the subject of Chapter 4. Environmental and land issues are the subject of Chqater 5. Basic needs (principally health and education) and employment are addressed in Chapter 6. The appendix to this chapter discusses poverty as measured by indicators of housing, illiteracy and malnutrition. 2 For Yaounde, the 1-2-3 Survey and, to a lesser extent the OCISCA Survey in Douala, provide excellent material for urban households. There is a notable lack of up-to-date information for rural households. Consequently, macroeconomic indicators, such as price and production trends, will be used to shed light on the dcnging poverty situation of ural families. 14 II. Poverty in 1983/84 Socio-Economic Dimensions of Poverty 2.3. Based on the 1983/84 distribution of consumption expenditures, a relative poverty line was defined to include as poor all households whose per capita consumption was at or below that of the 40th percentile of the income distribution, which corresponded to a consumption level of CFAF 78,000 (US$205) (in 1983 prices). Very poor (or poorest) households were those falling below the 20th percentile of the total distribution. Poor and very poor households, which by definition represented 40% and 20% of all households, accounted in 1983/84 for only 20% and 8%, respectively, of total consumption. Per capita food consumption of poor households was 1/4 (and, for the poorest households, 1/5) that of non-poor households. Disparities were even greater for total consumption, as mean per capita consumption of non-poor households was CFAF 287,300 (US$756), compared with CFAF 36,700 (US$97) for the poorest and CFAF 50,500 (US$133) for the poor (Table 2.1). Table 2.1 Basic Data By Poverty Group, 1983/84 in CFAF and percent Very Poor Intermed. Non Poor Cameroon Poor_____ _ % households with 6+ members 64 59 44 30 45 Food consumption per capita 22800 30800 54600 119200 105000 Total consumption per capita 36700 50500 96000 287300 152000 % of population 26 49* 20 31 100 % of infants 0-5 23 23 20 17 21 % of children 6-15 33 31 28 24 29 % who never attended school 64 62 54 44 55 Source: HBS(1983/84), own estimates. * Cumulative. 2.4. The poverty status of households is significantly affected by their age and gender structure, size, education level, and location.3 Households with at least six members are twice as prevalent among the poor (and poorest) as among the non-poor. The 6 to 15 age group is 24% of the population of non-poor households and 33% in poor (and poorest) households. Compared with other groups, there are fewer under 5s among the non-poor (17%) than among the poor (23%). This tends to confirm a link between large numbers of children and poverty in Cameroon. The education level of poor households is lower than is the case for the non-poor. Among the poor, 62% had never attended school (64% among the poorest), compared with 44% for the non- poor. Regional Dimensions of Poverty 2.5. In 1983/84, annual per capita consumption was estimated at CFAF 152,000 (US$400) (1983 prices). This figure masked wide regional disparities. Yaound6 ranked first with CFAF 3 This is confirmed in the most recent status report on poverty in Africa. See World Bank 1994e. 15 454,500-16% more than Douala. Elsewhere, mean per capita consumption in the urban north exceeded that of the urban south (CFAF 217,700 (US$570) as against CFAF 160,600 (US$420)), and in the rural south per capita consumption is greater than in the rural north (CFAF 113,800 (US$300) and CFAF 98,800 (US$260), respectively).4 Geographic location is therefore a strong indicator of poverty. In 1983/84, poor households were concentrated in rural areas. About one- tenth lived in the urban south. 2.6. The incidence of poverty-the proportion of households below the 40% poverty line- was, by this measure, negligible in Yaounde and Douala (less than 1%). However, poverty incidence was extremely high in the rural south (nearly I in 2 households) and in the rural north (2 in 5). The urban south and the urban north registered an incidence of 34% and 15%, respectively. In all rural areas, 1 in 4 households was among the poorest, while in the urban south and urban north this was the case for fewer than 1 in 5 and about 1 in 20, respectively. This category of poorest households was non-existent in Douala and affected only a small number of households in Yaounde.s As will be shown below, low poverty incidence masks differences between households. While Yaounde may have had the lowest poverty incidence, it was also the area with the greatest disparities, by whatever inequality measure is used (Table 2.2) Table 2.2 Indicators of Poverty and Extreme Poverty By Region, 1983/84 Region Extreme Poverty Average per Contribution Gini Theil Log var. poverty incidence capita to global incidence consumption poverty 'Yundd ~~~~~~~~~~CFAF ______ - - Yaounde 1 454500 0.49 0.55 0.63 Douala 2 380000 # 0.44 0.37 0.54 | Urban North 5 15 217700 1 0.43 0.32 0.58 Urban South 18 34 160600 11 0.47 0.44 0.67 Rural North 25 41 98800 38 0.37 0.25 0.41 ural South 24 47 113800 49 0.41 0.33 0.52 Cameroon _ 20 40 12000_ 100 __0.49 0.52 10.68 Source: HBS(1983/84), own estimates. # = less than I percent. 2.7. Beyond the incidence of poverty and extreme poverty, measurement of the dispersion of consumption distribution for the country as a whole and for each region provides interesting findings.6 The three dispersion indicators-Gini, Theil, and logarithmic variance-classify the 4 For this analysis, "rural north" and "urban north" indicate, respectively, rural and urban areas in the Adamaoua, North, and Far North Provinces. "Rural south" and "urban south" indicate, respectively, rural and urban areas in the Center, South, East, West, Coastal, South West, and North West Provinces. 5 The dearth of "poor" households in Yaounde and Douala is, of course, misleading, and should be interpreted only to signify that, using the relative poverty line, the 40% of households with the least resources did not live in the two largest cities. Undoubtedly, even in 1983/84 at the height of the oil boom, some households in Yaounde and Douala were not able to meet their basic needs, and thus fell below an absolute poverty line. 6 These indicators are the Theil measure of entropy, logarithmic variance and Gini coefficients. The Theil entropy measure and logarithmic variance indicators can be used to quantify the percentage of total inequality (for the country as a whole) attributable to differentials in mean consumption levels in the various regions. The 16 regions differently but concur on several points. First, inequality was greatest in Yaounde. Second, inequality was less marked in the rural north, which had the highest incidence of extreme poverty and the lowest mean consumption. Third, inequality for the country as a whole was 0.49 (Gini coefficient), which is comparable to the 1985 level in C6te d'Ivoire, which was 0.44 (Glewwe 1988). The dispersion of consumption averages by region explains the total inequality for Cameroon-29% (Theil), 23% (logarithmic variance). This type of result is critical because it determines what impact economic policies seeking to reduce regional disparities will have on overall equality. 2.8. Important regional differences occur in the structure of consumption patterns, reflecting differentials in production and food habits, and in access to economic and social infrastructure. The share of the budget allocated to food and beverages (including on-farm consumption) is about 57% nationally. This is higher in the rural north (78%) and in the urban north (63%), and lower-between 37% and 500/o-in the large cities and urban south. The northern half of the country thus has its own consumption patterns-more than 70% of consumption expenditure goes for food and beverages, compared with 60% in other areas. In addition, the share of expenditures for education (less than 1%) or health (less than 2%) is one-half to one-fourth of that in other areas (Table 2.3). Table 2.3 Consumption Budget Shares by Region, 1983/84 (in %) |_______________ !Forest High Plains North Coast Cameroon Food&Drink 58 58 72 59 57 Health 4 6 2 6 5 Education 2 4 <1 3 3 Other 36 32 25 32 35 Total 100 100 100 100 100 Source: HBS(1983/4), own estimates. 1II. Povert TrTids, 1983-1993 2.9. The profile presented in the preceding section pre-dates the turbulent decade that Cameroon has experienced since 1983 and the marked downturn in the country's economic performance (Chapter 1). The decline has inevitably had an impact on living standards and incomes. Unfortunately, this dimension of Cameroon's adjustment process has received little attention, in part through lack of recent data, and has not been given sufficient weight in economic policy formulation. This section attempts to fill the gap by analyzing changes in living conditions between 1983 and 1993. Despite the heterogeneity of sources used, it is possible to arrive at a fairly comprehensive picture of the evolution of living conditions over this period.' The speed and intensity of recent economic changes may radically alter (and have already dispersion of consumption for the country as a whole is based on the dispersions internal to each zone and the dispersion of average consumption in the various zones. There are no national sources such as the HBS (1983/84). Principal data sources are the 1-2-3 Survey (1993) for Yaounde, OCISCA/DSCN Survey (1993) for Douala. Data for rural households are much more limited, and the analysis will be based primarily on the annual surveys of the Ministry of Agriculture for 1985-1991. Where possible, the current situation will be set in historical context, to permit comparison with the 1983/84 profile and earlier data. 17 profoundly influenced) the situation facing households. This section does not take into account either the impact of the drastic cuts in Govemment salaries in 1993 or the 50% devaluation of the CFA franc in January 1994, which will be addressed in Part IV below. A. Poverty in Yaounde 2.10. Decline in per capita consumption. The worsening labor market situation over the last decade (Chapter 6) has resulted in a sharp contraction in household consumption. Mean per capita consumption fell from CFAF 454,500 in 1983 to CFAF 305,000 in 1993. Adjusting for changes in consumer prices over the period results in per capita consumption of CFAF 231,000 in 1993 (in 1983 prices)-a reduction of nearly 50% (Table 2.4).' Table 2.4 Trends in Per Capita Consumption, 1983-1993 Annual consumption per head ('000 CFAF) Evolution 1983-1993 (%) 93 (CFAF93) 83 (CFAF83) 93 (CFAF83) Volume Price 1.- Food 97 152 106 -30.3 -8.3 2.- Clothing 19 44 7 -84.1 +164.9 3.- Housing 63 81 72 -11.1 -12.9 4.- Household maintenance 26 32 16 -50.0 +62.9 5.- Health 21 32 15 -53.1 +36.6 6.- Transport & 45 50 22 -56.0 +107.8 communication 7.- Education & leisure 34 63 32 -49.2 +5.2 TOTAL 305 454 231 -49.1 +31.6 Source: HBS(1983/84), ECM93, own estimates. 2.11. To adjust for possible biases due to the small sample size of the ECM (1993), sensitivity analyses have been carried out. These adjustments tend to attenuate the decline, but all indicators confirm the steep fall in per capita consumption. Excluding households with per capita consumption in excess of CFAF 10 million in 1983, the mean falls from CFAF 454,500 to CFAF 415,000 and the drop in volume is 44.3% in ten years. If median values are compared, the figures fall from CFAF 277,000 in 1983 to CFAF 186,000 in 1993 (in 1983 prices}-a drop of 33%. 2.12. A living standards survey in Yaounde from 1964/65 can be used to place consumption trends in a longer time horizon. In 1964, per capita consumption was CFAF 56,000 (in 1964 prices), or CFAF 386,000 (in 1993 prices). Per capita consumption in 1993 is therefore 10% lower than it was 30 years ago (Figure 2.1). 8 The calculation of per capita consumption is based on the method used by Lynch (1991) for the HBS(1983/84), and ensures comparability with the findings in Part II. This is the unweighted arithmetic average for household per capita consumption. This method tends to overestimate both the level and the decline in per capita consumption between 1983 and 1993. Weighting for household size, the decline is 38% instead of 50%11, with mean per capita consumption of CFAF 283,000 in 1983, CFAF 228,000 (in 1993 prices), and CFAF 173,000 (1983 prices)-a drop of 38.2%. 18 Figure 2.1 2.13. The decline in consumption volume between 1983 and 1993 applies to all budget categories. In four AvWpPer CapIIUConIsuKmpiI categories ("household goods and maintenance," "health, hygiene, personal care," "transport, communications," 4 and "education, leisure"), the magnitude of the decline 4. was near the average of 50%. By contrast, the decrease _ was smaller for "food" and "housing." This reflects in m _ part the effects of price deflation in these sectors and the b-'* fact that foodstuffs make up the largest share of essential 'a goods, for which demand is inelastic. Volume declines for "clothing" should be interpreted with care, given the _" U3 U" problems in tracking prices over time for this category (changes in types of products, and increases in illegal imports from Nigeria). Tke Emergence of Urban Poverty 2.14. As consumption declined in 1983-93, urban poverty increased. In Part II, the relative poverty line was defined as the mean per capita consumption level below which 40% of households fell in 1983. That line was CFAF 78,OCO in 1983-or CFAF 103,000 in 1993 prices. While fewer than 1% of households in the capital could be considered poor in 1983, more than 20% would be considered poor by this measure in 1993.9 Table 2.5 Consumption Budget Allocations By Item and Poverty Level, Yaounde, 1993 TYPE OF HOUSEHOLD Annual consumption per head ('000 CFAF) Poor Intermediate Non-poor Total 1.- Food 25 55 153 97 2.- Clothing 4 12 28 19 3.- Housing 21 35 98 63 4.- Household maintenance 5 9 46 26 5.- Health 6 12 32 21 6.- Transport & communication 7 15 81 45 7.- Education & leisure 5 13 59 34 TOTAL 73 151 498 305 Souce: HBS(1983/84), ECM(1993), own estimates. 2.15. Household consumption levels and poverty (employment) status are closely interconnected. Per capita consumption of "non-poor" households is 7 times that of 'poor" 9 In what follows, households are classified in three groups, along two axes: first, as a function of their per capita consumption: (i) 'poor' households with consumption below the poverty line (20ffe of households in Yaound6); (ii) "intermediate" households with consumption between I and 2 times the poverty line (300/.); and (iii) "non- poor" households with consumption more than twice the poverty line (50We); second, as a function of their employment status: (i) 'formal' (private/public), where the household head earns a wage or salary; (ii) 'informal' where the head is not salaried; and (iii) "inactive/unemployed", where the head has no employment, this latter being, a priori, a disadvantaged and vulnerable group from a poverty perspective. 19 households. The ratio never falls below 5 in any expenditure category. "Housing" and "health, hygiene, personal care" show the smallest disparities though the gap is much more marked for "transport, telecommunications" and "education, leisure," which have ratios near 1:12 (Table 2.5). 2.16. Tracking changes in consumption by type of household helps to identify the household groups most affected by the crisis, and which constitute the new urban poor. Though all groups of household showed a substantial drop in consumption, those who were the poorest at the outset have proven to be the most vulnerable. Thus, "formal" households were comparatively sheltered, but nevertheless sustained a 20% to 30% reduction in per capita consumption. "Informal" households experienced both a contraction in demand and lower prices for the goods and services they sold, and their consumption declined by about 40%. Lastly, "inactive/unemployed' households were hardest hit: incomes shrank and consumption plummeted by more than 60%. While the situation of this type of household was probably transitory in 1983, as shown by their mean consumption levels at that time, ten years on they are entrenched in highly precarious living conditions (Table 2.6). Table 2.6 Trends in Per-Capita Consumption By Type of Household, 1983-1993 Consumption per head Growth rate 83/93 (CFAF83) (') TYPE OF HOUSEHOLDS 1983 1993 Mean Median Salaried 455 316 -30.5 -22.4 Non-salaried 368 230 -37.5 -45.5 Unemployed/Inactive 373 106 -61.6 -64.6 TOTAL 416 231 -44.5 -33.0 Source: HBS(1983/84), ECM(1993), own estimates. Excluded from the HBS sample are those households with consumption in excess of CFAF 10 million. Who are the New Urban Poor? 2.17. The new urban poor clearly come from the groups of households that are most vulnerable. More than half of "poor" households are inactive or unemployed and 32% are in the informal sector. "Formal" households constitute 15% of the poor, the vast majority of whom have jobs in the public sector (Table 2. 7). Though it should be interpreted carefully, this finding suggests that a number of 'formal" households are on the brink of poverty. This trend is likely to have worsened in the aftermath of the Government salary cuts and the non-indexation of salaries after the CFA franc devaluation. 20 Table 2.7 Poverty Level by Type of Household (in percentage) TYPE OF HOUSEHOLDS Public Formal Informal Unemployed TOTAL private private Inactive Poor 14.3 2.7 32.0 51.0 100 Intermediate 25.6 0 35.6 38.8 100 Non-poor 37.5 20.4 33.6 8.5 100 TOTAL 29.1 10.5 33.9 26.5 100 Sowc: ECM(1993), own estimates. The Link with the Labor Market 2.18. The mode of entry into the labor market is a key factor in the structure of income received by different groups of households (Table 2.8). Overall, earned income accounts for more than 80% of total household income. However, the poorer they are, the lower the share of eamings in total income. "Poor" households compensate for lower earnings with income from transfers between households, which account for nearly one-third of total income, while transfers are less than 6% among the "non-poor." For the "non-poor, " salaries from permanent positions predominate (75% of total income), while this source accounts for only 33% of income for the "poor." The share of earnings is largest for "intermediate" households, reflecting the fact that they work primarily in the informal sector. Table 2.8 Structure of Household Income by Poverty Level _______ TYPE OF HOUSEHOLD % | Poor Intermediate Non Poor Total 1.- Fixed salaries 33 26 74 60 2.- Other types of salaries 21 23 8 12 3.- Benefits 16 25 8 12 Votal work income 70 :z 74 90 84 4.- Pensions 0 3 4 4 6.- Transfers, gifts, other 30 23 6 12 Totilsoi-worlincome 30 26 10 16 TOTAL 100 100 100 100 Sources: ECM93, own estimues. 2.19. Adding all sources of income together (principal and secondary jobs for all household members) means that monthly incomes range not surprisingly from CFAF 198,000 for "formal' households in the public sector to CFAF 25,000 for households whose head is unemployed/inactive. Even after accounting for differences in household size (larger for those in the formal sector), these disparities remain. A ratio of 1:8 separates the former from the latter in total income, and the ratio is 1:7 when measured by unit of consumption (Table 2.9). 21 Table 2.9 Household Income Per Capita and by Unit of Consumption by Employment Status, 1993 TYPE OF HOUSEHOLD In '000 CFAF per month Public Formal Informal Unemployed TOTAL private private Inactive Total household income 198 159 57 25 100 Mean household size 6,2 5,8 4,7 5,2 5,4 Mean income per head 32 28 12 5 19 Mean income per unit of consumption 41 35 15 6 23 Source: 1-2-3 Survey (Phase 1), own estimates. Consumption equivalence scale: 0,5 for individuals under 15, I for others. B. Poverty in Douala 2.20. Distribution of income and the poverty profile from 1983 to 1993. The poverty profile presented in Part II shows that in 1983/1984 only 2% of households in Douala were below the national per capita poverty threshold of CFAF 78,000. Adjusting the 1983 poverty threshold to reflect changes in prices, the 1993 poverty line would be CFAF 103,000.10 Assuming, plausibly, that savings were negligible in 1993, an absolute poverty line can be established that corresponds to a level of mean per capita income of CFAF 103,000. The per capita income of "intermediate" households ranges from CFAF 103,000 to CFAF 206,000, while that of "non-poor" households is higher than CFAF 206,000, i.e., twice the poverty line. While fewer than 2% of households were considered poor in 1983/1984, more than 30% would fall under the poverty line in 1993, a dramatic deterioration in living standards in Douala over this ten-year period. 2.21. "Poor" households (31.1% of all households in the city) earned less than 10% of total income, while two-thirds of total income went to the "non-poor" who account for 39.3% of households (Figure 2.2). Monthly mean per capita income was CFAF 16,700: CFAF 4,900 for the poor, and CFAF 30,400 for the non-poor,-a ratio of 1:6. The Gini coefficient for that distribution is in the order of 0.40, i.e., almost as much as in 1983 (0.44). It is likely that this coefficient was underestimated in 1993, since the survey was carried out in "poor" neighborhoods, which excluded very wealthy households. Compared with Yaounde, where 20% of households were below the poverty line, poverty seems to have been greater in Douala during the first half of 1993. Cameroon's economic capital fell victim, long before Yaounde, to massive reductions in private and parapublic enterprises from 1986 to 1991. However, the situation in Douala may have improved relative to Yaounde since November 1993, as the cuts in Government salaries undoubtedly affected Yaounde more than Douala. C Rural Poverty: 1983-1993 2.22. The preceding analysis presents a fairly extensive picture of recent changes in urban living conditions. How rural households and individuals have been affected is much more 10 Calculations are based on price changes in Yaounde. It is assumed for this purpose that price changes in Douala were similar to those in Yaounde. 22 difficult to determine in the absence of up-to-date and reliable data. Indirect indicators (prices in particular) provide a basis for estimating changes in rural incomes over the last ten years." Figure 2.2 Distribution of Households and lncome Leiels, by Powerty Group in Douala 70 60 50 Households e40 I*nori L 30 20 10 0 oor _itermrdiate Non-Poor Source: OCISCA (1993); own estimates. Cash-crop Farnmng 2.23. Cash-crop farmers were probably the hardest hit by the fall in prices in the wake of international price declines in the mid 1980s, which affected farmers in the 1989/90 season. Table 2.10 shows the prices for the main export crops since 1983/84. Prices for 1985/86 are included as this was the point after which producer prices began to fall. For cocoa and robusta coffee, the two leading export crops, prices plunged respectively by 46% and 74%. For the latter, the 1992/93 price was only 20% of its peak in 1985/86. Some crops were more resistant than others, such as raw sugar and palm oil, for which the prices were the same in 1993 and in 1983, but the overall drop in producer prices for cash crops as a whole is estimated at 42% for the period. The analysis that follows covers Cameroonian farmers at a macroeconomic level. Data limitations preclude identification of different categories of households and individuals who have been most or differentially affected by economic performance and policies over this period. The only disaggregation that is possible is that between cash-crop agriculture and food-crop agriculture. This does not correspond to two different types of farmers, as most cash-crop farmers also grow food crops. However, the reverse is not the case, as around 40 percent of farm families in Cameroon do not produce export crops. In 1989/90, of a national total of 1,241,000 farmers, 1,197,000 grew at least some food crops, and 619,000 engaged in the production of cash crops (barely 3% of farms produced cash crops exclusively). 23 Table 2.10 Trends in Cash Crop Producer Prices, 1983-1993 Price level (in CFAF/kg) Evolution 1983/84 1985/86 1992/93 1983/1992 (%) Cocoa beans 370 450 200 -46 Robusts coffee 390 470 100 -74 Arabica coffee 410 520 200 -51 Cotton seed 117 155 85 -27 Palm oil 191 224 187 -2 Raw sugar 208 213 216 +4 Total cash crops (100=83/84) 100 115 58 42 Source: J.J.AERTS, CFD, own estimates. 2.24. Changes in producer prices are only a partial indicator of the real income earned from cash crops. First, the volumes produced and marketed must be taken into account. When prices are depressed, planters could have tried to maintain their monetary income by increasing areas planted or yields. Second, to calculate real income, nominal income must be deflated by an appropriate consumer price index. Output volumes for different crops show mixed trends (Annex I Table 4). There was a marked drop for cocoa, and for robusta and arabica coffee (respectively -12%, -5%, and -37%). In 1986/87, 124,000 tons of robusta coffee were produced, compared with only 45,000 tons in 1992/93. By contrast, production of some non-traditional crops rose, such as cotton, palm oil, bananas, and natural rubber. 2.25. Cash crop production in value terms (excluding export margins) fell from CFAF 170 billion in 1983/84 to CFAF 126 billion in 1991, down 26%. Moreover, the purchasing power of cash crops eroded continuously over the period. A rough measure of this can be derived by comparing producer prices for various crops with consumer prices. Compared with 1983, cash crop prices showed a 40% decline, whereas during the same period the CPI increased by 30%, corresponding to a decline in terms of trade of 55%. Even with a consumption basket composed solely of foodstuffs, which are more likely to be essential goods, the terms of trade of cash crops would have plummeted 37%. Cash crops, which had earned CFAF 123 billion for rural households in 1984/85, generated only CFAF 63 billion in 1992/93. If that amount is deflated by the consumer price index in Yaounde, the decline in real income from cash crop farrning would be some 60% over the period. Food-Crop Farming 2.26. Faced with steep declines in export crop prices, many producers may have been tempted to shift to food crop farming. For such a substitution to have taken place, two conditions would have to be met: the relative profitability of food-crop farming would have to rise, and producers would have to be sensitive to the comparative profitability of different crops. Unlike prices for cash crops, which depend on world prices and the way these prices affect producer behavior, food crop prices are determined by the local market, through adjustment of supply and demand. Consequently, the widespread declines of incomes (notably urban incomes) could not but affect local prices. 24 2.27. One measure of this is the consumer price index for Yaounde. The fall in food crop prices between 1983 and 1993 is particularly steep: -61% for starches, -29% for legumes, -43% for fruits, -45.2% for dairy products, and -20% for meat (Annex I Table 5). However, decreases in consumer prices are an imperfect indicator of changes in producer prices, as other costs and margins (for transportation, marketing) are incorporated into this price. It appears, though, that the fall in producer prices for food crops was as substantial as the decline in consumer prices. The fall in consumer prices reflects both smaller marketing margins and the decline in producer prices (Table 2.11). 2.28. Production volumes remained relatively constant throughout the period for which data are available (1984/85-1990/91), with the exception of millet/sorghum, for which production more than doubled. In value terms, food crop production fell from CFAF 417 billion in 1984/85 to CFAF 378 billion in 1992/93. Table 2.11 Trends in Food Crop Producer Prices, 1984-1990 Price level (in CFAFlkg) Evolution 1984/85 1990/91 1985/1991 (%) Millet, sorghum 114 53 -63 Corn grain 90 48 -47 Plantains 45 31 -31 Cassava (Manioc) 46 28 -39 Yams 89 39 -66 Food crops (12 products) _ -40 Source: J.J. Aens (CFD), own estimaes. Rural Areas Not Spared 2.29. Total income from agriculture (cash and food crops, including own-consumption) shrank in value terms by 6% between 1985 and 1993. If demographic growth (estimated at 2% per year in rural areas) is taken into account, nominal per capita income fell by 25%. In real terms, the decline was probably even greater, given the likely increase in consumer prices paid by rural households.'2 The decline was probably less marked than for urban households, to the extent that poor farmers for the most part consume essential goods, the prices of which increase relatively less quickly. It is unlikely that the contribution of income from non-agricultural activities or monetary transfers from the city would significantly change these findings. 2.30. Given the magnitude of rural poverty in 1983 (about 1 in 2 households was poor), poverty can only have spread significantly in the last ten years. Assuming for purposes of comparison that the decrease in per capita consumption was uniform for all rural households, and that consumer prices increased by only 10% (as against 30% in Yaounde), the proportion of rural poor would have risen over this period from 49% to 71%. 2.31. The fall in agricultural prices and diminished prospects for earning a significant monetary income from agricultural activities has triggered an "extensification" process in 12 If consumer prices had followed the same trend as in Yaounde, real per capita income would have fallen by more than 400/. 25 production, with lower utilization rates of farm machinery and fertilizers, smaller yields for export crops (with the notable exception of cotton), and sharp shifts in household expenditures (Box 2. 1). IV. DeveloyntCs in 1994 2.32. The preceding analysis of household living conditions and poverty was based on data that were no more recent than August 1993. Since then, various measures have directly affected living standards, notably the cut in Government salaries decided at the end of November 1993 and the devaluation of the CFA franc on January 11, 1994. Owing to their magnitude and given the lags in adjustment, the impact of these two measures has not yet been fully felt at the household level.13 Box 2.1: Expenditure Adjustment in Rural Areas The fall in per capita consumption in rural areas must have triggered a return toward subsistence strategies and a marked decrease in monetary expenditure, particularly for basic needs (education, health). The OCISCA surveys carried out in Yemessoa (cocoa zone) between 1991 and 1993 confirm these results, as education expenditures fell by 300/. (students in the upper cycles being the most affected), and health expenditures by 22%. Another study to assess the reactions of planters to lower prices for the 1989/90 season in Cameroon's coffee and cocoa-growing zones reached the same conclusions. The reduction in monetary expenditures affected education, especially for girls, and children studying at private secondary schools. In health, decisions on care were put off as long as possible. There was also a decrease in expenditures for goods, in particular housing, as well as a shift in food consumption towards food crop products, expensive proteins being replaced by products of mediocre quality. Source: OCISCA 1994, and Losch et al. 1991. Short-Term Effects - Changes in Household Income Since December 1993 2.33. For reasons associated with improving the public finance situation, the Government of Cameroon announced in late November 1993 that it would reduce the wage bill through a 40% cut in salaries. These reductions were made following a long series of adjustments in the compensation of Government workers that began in 1989 (Box 2.2). At around the same time, the franc zone authorities decided to devalue the CFA franc by 50%, and this took effect in January 1994. Initial findings of the ELSR confirm the short-term contractionary effects of these measures on the activity and income of households. Two types of earned income can be distinguished: salaries that are set institutionally and the remuneration received by independent workers that is determined by market supply and demand. 13 To assess changes in living standards since the beginning of 1994, two sources of information are used: the Consumer Price Index for Yaounde, recorded on a monthly basis since December 1993, and the Rapid Income Monitoring Survey (ELSR) carried out since March 1994 with a sample of 60 households carefully selected on the basis of the 1-2-3 Survey. 26 2.34. Between December 1993 and March Box 2.2: Pay Cuts in the Government 1994, nominal salaries remained approximately constant. They did not change A senior manager in the Government, who received some at all in the public administration, and CFAF 400,000 per month in December 1992, earned only CFAF 148,000 twelve months later, i.e. a nominal decreased slightly in public and formal loss of 65§/o, not taking into account the two months of private enterprises. Income earned by salary arrears in October and November 1993. Yet the independent workers in the inforrnal sector central Government in Yaoundd was in a relatively over the same period fell sharply, on average privileged position. In the provinces, salary arrears by 35%. This is attributable both to the began before those in Yaounde and were more contraction in demand by public sector significant. employees for goods and services from the informal sector and to the devaluation, which reduced the purchasing power of those who received non-indexed income (Table 2.12). 2.35. Income declines in the informal sector affect all branches of activity in relatively similar proportions, ranging from -28% for urban and peri-urban farmers, to -41% for the informal manufacturing sector. Not surprisingly, the categories of workers who produce or sell essential goods have been most resilient: -13% for sellers of food and, -28% for farmners. The impact of the devaluation on cash-crop farmers will begin to be felt only during the next agricultural season, in the last quarter of 1994. Table 2.12 Trends in Earned Incomes in Yaound6 (December 1993 - March 1994) Nominal evolution Regression greater Dec.93/March 94 than 30 Institutional sector (%) (%) Number of cases Public administration 0 0 6 Public enterprise -5,6 0 6 Formal private sector -8,4 11 9 Informal sector: -35,0 52 52 of which Agriculture -28,1 33 6 Manufacturing -41,0 57 7 Commerce -33,3 48 23 Food service -40,4 66 3 Services -36,1 50 10 Transport -40,0 66 3 Sour: ELA (1994), own estimaes. Consumer Price Trends since December 1993 2.36. The increase in the general consumer price index between December 1993 and April 1994 was about 29%. The monthly increase was virtually nil in April (0.3%), after a leap of 15.3% in February and 4.3% in March. By end-December 1994, prices had risen by 48% over the period, though food prices in Yaounde are estimated to have risen by nearly 65% (Figure 2.3). Analysis by type of product shows the diversity of price adjustments. Paradoxically, the prices of foodstuffs and products manufactured in the informal sector showed the largest increases. The increase in informal manufactures (processed foods, carpentry, tailoring, etc.) 27 was nearly 90%; these are the only products showing signs of growth, though the same products experienced the sharpest drop (-25%) during the period from 1989 to 1993. Given the falling income of infornal producers, it is likely that these prices will adjust downwards in the coming months, as has occurred for other products. 2.37. If the trends in nominal income and the changes in consumer prices are combined, the net result is a 50% reduction in real income in the informal sector since December 1993. For wage and salary earners in the formal sector, purchasing power eroded with inflation (i.e., a decrease of nearly 25%). However, if the November 1993 cuts in public salaries, which became effective in December, are taken into account, the decline in wages and salaries was slightly higher than that in the informal sector. Figure 2.3 Consumer Price Trends in Yaounde, 1994 (December 1993 100) 170 160. eT 150 * -Toa 140 * .. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Food 120 - x.- _ _ - - -. . Heafh 110 - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - - Education 100 _ Dec-93 Ubr-94 Jun-94 Sep-94 Dec-94 Source: DSCN, own estimates. v. concljsion 2.38. Data from the 1983/84 Household Budget Survey suggest that past patterns of economic growth in Cameroon were highly uneven, leading to considerable inequality among both socio- economic groups and regions in the country. The period since the mid-1980s has been one of rapid impoverishment in Cameroon, and there has been a very sharp decline in per capita consumption since 1983. There has been a marked increase in the incidence of urban poverty. While fewer than 1 percent of households in Yaounde and Douala fell below the poverty line in 1983, more than 20 percent of households in Yaounde, and 30 percent in Douala, do so in 1993. Data for Yaound6 suggest that mean per capita consumption has fallen in nominal terms from CFAF 454,500 in 1983 to CFAF 305,000 in 1993. Adjusting for changes in relative prices between these two dates results in per-capita annual consumption of CFAF 231,000 (1993 prices), or a reduction in value terms of about 50%. The level of per capita consumption in Yaound6 is about 10 percent lower than it was thirty years ago. 28 2.39. The burden of decline has also been uneven. The poorer households have suffered fust, suffered most, and borne the brunt of the consumption declines. Though all groups of households showed a substantial drop in consumption, those who were the poorest at the outset have proven to be the most vulnerable. Thus, 'formal" households were comparatively sheltered, but nevertheless sustained a 20% to 30% reduction in per capita consumption. "Informal" households experienced both a contraction in demand and lower prices for the goods and services they sold, and their consumption declined by about 40%. Lastly, "inacttve/unemployed' households were hardest hit: incomes shrank and consumption plummeted by more than 60%. 2.40. The 1983 HBS established that poverty was overwhelmingly a rural phenomenon in Cameroon, estimating that 1 in 2 rural households fell below the poverty line. Producer prices for most crops have declined significantly over the period. For cocoa and robusta coffee, the two leading export crops, prices plunged respectively by 46% and 74%. The drop in producer prices for cash crops as a whole is estimated at 42% for the period. Cash crops, which had earned CFAF 123 billion for rural households in 1984/85, generated only CFAF 63 billion in 1992/93. The decline in real income from cash crop farming is estimated at some 60% over the period. For food crops, the fall in prices between 1983 and 1993 has been particularly steep. In value terns, food crop production fell from CFAF 417 billion in 1984/85 to CFAF 378 billion in 1992/93. Total income from agriculture (cash and food crops, including own-consumption) shrank in value terms by 6% between 1985 and 1993. If demographic growth (estimated at 2% per year in rural areas) is taken into account, nominal per capita income fell by 25%. In real terms, the decline was probably even greater, given the likely increase in consumer prices paid by rural households. 2.41. Rural areas have not been spared by Cameroon's economic collapse, and rural poverty is estimated to have increased considerably in the last 10 years. Assuming for purposes of comparison with the 1983 poverty situation that the decrease in per capita consumption was uniform for all rural households, and that consumer prices increased by only 10% (as against 30% in Yaounde), the number of rural households below the poverty line will have risen from 49 percent to 71 percent during this period. These estimates suggest a considerable expansion of poverty in Cameroon, as seen in a 64 percent increase in the number of households in poverty in the last decade, while the percentage of households defined as below the poverty line has risen from the 40 percent cut-off established in 1983 to about 48 percent in 1993. APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 2 other Indicators for Measirtinb the Prevalence of Povert A. 1 Because poverty has many dimensions, the prevalence of poverty in Cameroon can be measured using many different indicators. Indeed, it is argued that indicators such as the type of housing, rates of illiteracy and school enrollment, and malnutrition rates are often more reliable measures of poverty than those provided by national-level consumption/expenditure data, especially where such data are not of recent origin (1983/4 in Cameroon). To complement the consumption data presented in this chapter, an analysis was undertaken of the prevalence of poverty in Cameroon using these three indicators of housing, illiteracy and malnutrition.I Data are derived from the 1987 Population and Housing Census (housing and illiteracy) and the 1991 Cameroon Demographic and Health Survey (malnutrition). The housing index is based on whether the walls of houses are made of cement, bricks, or stones, which are classified as "durable" or dirt, raw bricks, boards, mud/straw, branches and leaves which are classified as "non durable" materials.2 Those who live in housing built from "non durable" materials have been classified as poor. A similar classification has been made for roofs and floors of houses. The illiteracy index measures the illiteracy rates of adults aged 11 and over, and the rates of school enrollment of children aged 6-14, as reported in the 1987 census. A.2. These indicators can be combined to create a composite "poverty index" at the provincial level. This poverty indicator is used to analyze the spatial distribution of poverty in Cameroon's ten provinces using a computer "geographic information system" (GIS) data mapping facility. These data can be disaggregated by province, between rural and urban areas, and by gender. The aggregate provincial results are shown in Maps 2.AI and 2.A2. The data indicate that poverty, as measured by these indicators, is more severe in rural than in urban areas. The poverty index increases as one moves from the coastal zones (Littoral province) to the North. In South-Western urban centers, including Yaounde and Douala, the poverty index is below 25%, whereas it is in excess of 50 % in rural areas of the North and Far North (56 % to 70 Further information on the methodology used for this poverty mapping exercise is provided in Annex 111. Maps presenting the spatial distribution of these measures of poverty in the country, and indicating nrual/urban and gender gaps, are in Annex V. 2 It is assumed, for purposes of this exercise, that these indicators remained constant until 1993. These indicators were then applied to the estimated 1993 population to derive the absolute number of poor individuals in 1993. 3 In the "poverty index" used here, illiteracy and malnutrition have each been attributed a weight of 40ff, and the housing component a weight of 20%/. 30 Table 2.Al: Urban and Rural Poverty Idex, By Province PROVINCE Poverty Index Poverty Index Poverty (All (Urban Index (Rural Population) Population) Population) FAR NORTH 49% 35% 53% NORTH 44% 28% 490/o ADAMAOUA 37% 26% 43% EAST 30% 21% 33% CENTRAL 16% 11% 21% SOUTH 18% 12% 20% SOUTH-WEST 21% 13% 24% NORTH-WEST 26% 16% 290/o WEST 21% 14% 24% LITrORAL - 13% - 11% 21% TOTAL 28% 16% 35% A.3 There is a close association between poverty and malnutrition (Chapter 4). The 1991 CDHS used a "possession index" as a proxy for wealth. This index, established for each household indicates the availability of electricity, and the ownership of a radio, television, refrigerator, and/or cooker.4 One-third of mothers live in households which do not have access to any of these amenities, and a firther one-third have access to only one. The risk of children of being "stunted" is inversely related to the "possession index": children from households which have no electricity, radio, television, refrigerator, electric stove or oven are three time more likely to suffer from "stunting" than children from households which possess 4 or 5 of the above (Figure 2.AI) . Figure 2.A1 Provalence of Malnubitlon by Poamson Index, 1991 35 20 15 _ h _x Source: CDHS 1991, own estimates. 4 On a 5-point scale, 0 indicates the poorest and 4-5 the wealthiest households. 31 Map 2. Al Cameroon Poverty Index By Province Based on Housing, Illiteracy and Malnutrition Map Features Internatkoal Boundaries - Major Rhve -Proince Boundanes FAR NOR. * National Capital 9Y X 5 jyMaru * Province Capital Poverty Indicator (Expressed In Percent) D Oto 10% 10 to 20% v 40 toS0% 50 to 60% _._. NORTH-WEST _ ........ 26% .ADAMAOUA / < Bamenda 3%~~~qp~P. The boundaries, colomrs denominations WES' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ad any other informatiw4 z. ...21% hTaown on this map do not Imnply. ..- ...... 21% .--- onthe parto A h WoridBank Group, any judgmenl on the lsgal atus '.JUifl V owEST Bafoussam' ',o or ancceprtnory or anyh enourseme 21% _> ..... LITTORAL $ g 16% X HBertoua Doual f (0%3, ~. .........Oui |v j o s 100 t .-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ore ..P (ISMo,1 CON ,(11 M Cameroon Poverty Index By Province Based on Housing, Illiteracy and Malnutrition Map Features i . Poverty Index (Expressed In Percent) Me Rnm o g°to 10% Nevonat CRn n URBAN E l IOto 20% RURAL * Pmuv*ic Ca r FAR NORTH [ 20 to 30% FAR 35% El _53 The boudrf, oolom, dnoi m. indEns_ j 30t4% _ and a ao Information shown on _ 3 Oto 40% this nmp do rxt imply, on th port dof- -0> OwWadd Bank Group, any Judgnmen 40Oto 50% on the lepgl stabn ofany tefltory. or9 auch baundart_. 50 to 60% KM ~~~~~~DMOAz1zJNORTH-WEST ADAMAAORHUES ~~~~6%0-100 200 2 3 p, X, §wM;n, rid SOUTH-WEST BfuSam. .....). SOUTHWSBaosm I i i ;EboIow0 SOUTHI'boiw .: ,:: 1, -. SOUTHA^,...'W/ (' 13% ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~ouc GH(97 DS(91 3 coyin& with Cnrsis: The Viewyoint of the Poor introduction: The Partticipatory Poverty AnlysiS 3.1. The participatory poverty analysis (PPA) was conducted by Cameroonian researchers and institutions in the first half of 1994. The regions covered are the City of Yaounde in the Center Province, the City of Douala in the Littoral Province; and rural and urban sites in the East, Far North and South West provinces. While the income and expenditure profile (Chapter 2) is based on data preceding the devaluation of the CFA franc and the substantial cuts in public sector salaries, the PPA provides a direct opportunity to assess the perceptions of people, poor and non-poor, not only on the broader changes in the economy in recent years, but more specifically on the initial fallout from these events and what they mean for their economic opportunities, constraints, and expectations. 3.2. The purpose of the PPA is to bring to light the values and behavior of key poverty groups in Cameroon so that policy makers can assist them more effectively in overcoming the multiple constraints (social, economic, cultural, institutional, physical) which keep them in poverty. The PPA was based principally on structured interviews with 1,559 households in the selected study zones, and over 150 interviews with key informants (local Government officials, community leaders, service providers, and church and women's groups). Regional reports were prepared for each of the PPA zones, as well as a synthesis report for the PPA as a whole. Details on the sample surveyed, methodologies used, and the interview guide are provided in Annex III. This chapter aims to present the viewpoint of the poor, as articulated during the PPA exercise and summarized in the synthesis of PPA results. II. PHUncial Povert Isses 3.3. The PPA findings highlight the distinction between two dimensions of poverty. The "long-standing" poor (poor farm families in rural areas and in the urban informal sector) are a group that has been perpetually unable to meet their basic needs through lack of a regular source of income and limited opportunities. As shown in Chapter 2, "structural" poverty of this type pre-dates the economic crisis of the 1986-90 period and reflects significant inequalities in past patterns of economic development. By contrast, a second group, the "new" poor, has emerged as a result of the economic crisis. For this group, the process of impoverishment began in 1986 as the prices of Cameroon's commodities began to fall on the world market. Retrenchment and substantial cuts in salaries have contributed to a marked fall in the standard of living of civil servants (Chapter 2). For the first time, this privileged class feels disenfranchised and bewildered. This effect is strongly felt in administrative centers such as Yaounde and Buea. Poverty in Douala and Yaounde has mainly been aggravated by structwal unemployment in the public and private sectors, while poverty in the East and Far North provinces is accentuated by 34 geographical isolation from the country's major centers of economic and political activity. Problems associated with hunger, dietary inadequacy, and high food expenditures dominate the assessment made by the poor of the characteristics which distinguish their poverty (Box 3.1). Powerlessness and lack of "voice" are also highlighted. Health and Sanitation 3.4. Respondents in all the PPA zones unanimously identify health status as an Box 3.1: Poverty: A Self Assessment important indicator of poverty at all levels. The poor in all the regions distinguish themselves Most of the poor, both in urban and rural areas, from the non-poor on five main criteria: do not have easy access to basic preventive and curative health care facilities. Although health 4 the presence of hunger in their households; facilities are inadequate and rudimentary in all + fewer meals a day and nutritionally inadequate the regions, it is principally the lack of funds diets; that compels people not to seek medical care in + higher percentage of their meager and "modem" health institutions. In the Far North irregular income being spent on food; and in Yaounde, the infant mortality rate + non-existent or low sources of cash income; among the poor was estimated at 200/1,000. + a feeling of powerlessness and their inability Often the poor go without any modem to make themselves heard. medicine because of the costs. Malaria was by far the most prevalent sickness in all the Source: PPA Synthesis Report 1994. regions surveyed. Since the devaluation of the CFA franc, the cost of drugs for malaria has increased significantly. The cost for a course for malaria is about CFAF 6,000. The average cash income for a subsistence farmer in a village in South West Province was CFAF 700-1,000 monthly. 3.5. Differences in perforrnance and in the responsiveness of public and private health institutions were highlighted during the PPA interviews (Table 3.1). In the words of a respondent "in Government hospitals patients are required to provide everything from alcohol to money" before they can be sure to get medical attention of any kind. The principal problems affecting use of health services, which were identified in the South West province, were ranked as shown in Figure 3. 1. Table 3.1: Health Service Providers: Pros and Cons Prubic Sector (Government) Hospial Private Sector (Mission) Hospital rudeness of staff courteous staff practice of "tipping" staff amenable billing arrangements, including payments in kind and flexible payment schedules high cost of, and/or unavailability of medicines medicines available on-site; can be purchased in small quantities poor sanitation poor/difficult access roads avoid extra transport costs in obtaining medicines Source: PPA. 35 Figure 3.1. Why People do not Use Health Services in the South-West Province, Cameroon Problems Ranked I 1es iab onlv issue preocriptions on paper due to lack oftnidk | 2 Absence of health Institualons 3 1 distnes looe hopial _ 4 UH!b mahpraetiom cost to bs pitIl 5 ileolab serviceS are badrnadoquale 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 # of Respondents 3.6. The regions in the study most affected by poor medical services are the Far North and the East province. In the Far North, approximately 70% of all deliveries take place in the home, though the PPA team estimates that the percentage of deliveries in health facilities has dropped from about 30 percent to only 16% in 1994; and infant mortality in the region is the highest in the nation. Prevalent but preventable diseases cited are malaria, dysentery and diarrhea, infectious and respiratory diseases, measles and malnutrition. In Mokolo, at the time of the PPA interviews, there were only four patients in a 140-bed health facility. Many people who were sick sought medical help at home. Following the devaluation of the CFA franc, the costs of drugs is estimated to have increased by approximately 60%. The main reason given by respondents in the area for the sharp drop in hospital attendance was the high cost of medicines. The East province reported a high incidence of malaria, prevalence of abdominal ailments, respiratory diseases, and STDs. For the East, Figure 3.2 ranks the most common health ailments. Figure 3.2. Eastern Province: Ranking orMost Common Health Ailments Rheumatism Resp.ill.(Maladies (Rhumatis) Resp.) 7% Abdominal (Bas 12% Ventre) Stomach (Ventre) -r 4% 19% ( j - Malaria (Paludisme) 58% UMalaria (Paludibme) OStomach (Ventre) *Relp.ill.(Maladies Resp.) *Rbeumatism (Rhumatis) O Abdominal (Bas Ventre) 36 3.7. Respondents were generally aware of their most common diseases and equally clear about what kinds of health services they needed in their communities (preventive and curative drugs for malaria, maternity health care facilities, and access to qualified nurse/doctor). The fact that many are ill on and off throughout the year points to the need to target preventive disease vigorously, especially malaria, and to improve delivery of essential drugs to rural health centers. Coping Mechanisms in the Health Sector 3.8. In all the regions, individuals and institutions have adopted various mechanisms for coping with the impact of increasing poverty. The major forms of adaptation reported were: (a) self-medication; (b) recourse to traditional medicine (herbalists and sorcerers); (c) increased charging for services in Government hospitals; (d) proliferation of quack doctors and street drug vendors. As a result of low hospital attendance, some church-related clinics have closed down. 3.9. Field observations showed the following pattern for health care for two different periods, in virtually all the regions. People do not seek health treatnent at hospitals except as a last resort because of the high costs involved in transport, the distance involved, and the need to pay for drugs and for medical services. Typically, when ill, the poor treat themselves with traditional medicine as a first resort, then purchase drugs from a nearby health post or from drug hawkers, and finally make the trek to a hospital.1 Of those interviewed in one village, over 50% of adults had never consulted a health professional in the formal sector, and consultation only occurs when people have been seriously ill for some time. Prior to 1987, people would go straight to the hospital with a patient. But in 1994, they would go to the hospital only as a last resort after all other cheaper avenues have been exhausted (Figure 3.3). Figure 3.3 The Medical Route in Five Regions for Two Time Periods as Reported by the Poor Themselves - Pod b 1987: l. rss 1.lllr~~~~s 2 H-kita - Betm '87 and '94: 1. llhrss 2 3. 4. 5. Ial This parallels the ftinformalization of economic activity, as a response by individuals and households to reduced income and purchasing power. See Chapter 6. 37 Poverty, Prostitution and Health 3.10. Evidence obtained from all 5 regions indicates that poverty has increased the rate of female, particularly teenage, prostitution within the past four years. Although no comparative data were obtained for earlier periods, parents and key informants declared that "with the economic crisis, everything in Cameroon has been for sale. " Two main reasons were given for the high rate of prostitution: (a) high unemployment among women; and (b) retrenchments and massive salary cuts which have deprived male heads of households of regular income. This was confirmed by commercial sex workers interviewed in Yaounde and Douala. In the East Province, teenage girls and women out of gainful employment would say in despair: "... We have food to sell; but no one will buy. Those who try to buy pay so cheaply for it that it is no longer worth the effort to farm. In the face of this double bind, what else is left for a woman to sell?" Medical personnel interviewed stated that the rate of STD has increased within the last three years in the East Province.2 This presents a critical health problem in a society that is unable to provide basic preventive health care to its population. Nutrition and Food Security 3.11. Most of the poor eat only one meal a day, and that meal is of low nutritional value (banana and pepper and palm oil). Meat and fish are seldom eaten. The poor are aware that their diet is lacking but have to make do given the high costs of protein (meat and fish) and condiments that they have to purchase on the market. Bushmeat commands such a high price in urban areas that villagers could not afford to eat it. In South West Province 73% of those interviewed said their diet had deteriorated over the previous 12 months. Roughly two-thirds of the urban respondents in Douala and Yaound6 said both the quality and the quantity of their nutrition had markedly declined over the last five years. The main constraints to increasing food and other agricultural production are the low level of technology, lack of access to information, improved seeds and other inputs, and inaccessibility to markets because of the poor condition of farm-to-market roads. The sheer physical demands of farming with rudimentary technology (hoe, machete) are reflected in high ranking of hemia as a common ailment in rural areas, even among youth and young adults. As suggested below, good roads would go a long way toward increasing the supply and reducing the costs of food products that have to be bought on the market, as well as opening up markets for expanded food production from rural areas and increasing rural incomes. The priority of food issues for the poor is the subject of Chapter 4. Access to Water and Sanitation Infrastructure 3.12. Personal hygiene and environmental sanitation have also deteriorated. In the East and Far North, respondents singled out bath and laundry soap as "luxury items" for the poor. Access to clean water is an acute problem for the poor in rural and urban areas. In the mountain region of the Far North, people spend approximately five hours of their waking time "looking for water". In the South-West Province too, the poor have no access to clean water. In the words of a respondent from the area, "sometimes... the water is brown. We call it tea, but we drink it anyway, as there is nothing else to drink.. " Nkololoun and Nylon, two low-income neighborhoods in Douala had no piped water, no tarmac roads, and bordered on or were built in 2 In 1992, an HIV Surveillance report by the AIDS control unit of the Cameroon Ministry of Health targeted the East Province as a high HIV risk zone. Of nine HIV sentinel surveillance sites for pregnant women in Cameroon, Bertoua stood out with the highest HIV positive cases of almost 8%. 38 swamp land. They were experiencing typhoid and cholera outbreaks. In one neighborhood, five standpipes (to service an estimated population of over 1,000 households) had broken down. Education 3.13. Perceptions of the value of education have changed over time in all regions. Education at all levels is considered by many as "a waste of money", as graduates increasingly return to their parents for food and shelter, diploma in hand, for want of jobs. Three main factors were attributed to this malaise by respondents in several of the sites, particularly Douala: 4 widespread unemployment due to the economic recession; 4 the inappropriateness of curricula to the needs of the society; and + falling standards in education. 3.14. The problems of "relevance" and "quality of education" in Cameroon were seen to be more acute in rural than in urban areas. For instance, while the literacy rate in the Far North province is only 26% (19% for women), the national average is about 76%. Only 1 in 3 children enrolled in schools in the Far North is a girl, and only 1 in 2 can find a seat in class, even though the student/teacher ratio is 56:1 compared to 100:1 in some parts of the country. The evidence from all the study sites indicates further that both parents and children have decreased confidence in the education system not only because of rising costs, but for many other reasons as well (Figure 3.4). Figure 3.4. The Eleven Most Meotioned Problems Affecting Schools in the South West Province, Cameroon Problem Ranked I imad ease gumber of teaenI 2 lait. withdraw ehirea from school due i; isek ees 7 3 lsdeqmate school buildiosp 4 Pnferee gheo to boys eadotim b use frh aui becomen S Ior qoolofeachers 6 Seeamduryschooi et uar 7 Cost of Seodary Schbol 0 hgbh 8 sacsTatn nsteeea.d b hirwork 9 1F.A. eve rkadbh hit- 10 Tet boelm are esAly 11 Schoo pupb aow- wprlu (hermtiug, layhg bricu, faoiqi br _ eachrs) 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 U of Respondents 3.15. Direct observation in some schools revealed that the education content is irrelevant and does not equip students with basic skills to enter gainful employment.3 In Yaound6, the East and 3 Tne increasingly tenuous links between education and employment are the subject of Chapter 6. 39 Far North provinces, parents reported not sending children to school and/or taking them out of school because "a diploma no longer leads to a job." The standard of teaching is low (PTA teachers typically have seven years of basic education), and there is a general lack of resources. Teachers were generally found to lack motivation due in large part to low pay and poor equipment. Parents in Yaounde criticized teachers for alcoholism, absenteeism, arbitrary grading, and laziness (sleeping in class). In urban areas, parents are delaying sending children to school by not enrolling them in nursery schools. Some children are simply staying out of school. In all the regions surveyed except the East, people complained that they had to pay school authorities to gain admission to school for their children. 3.16. Many young girls, particularly in rural areas, will not stay in school or continue to secondary school. Early marriage and teenage pregnancies were recognized by the people in the East and Far North to contribute to the gender biases in education. With shrinking financial resources, adult respondents in most regions surveyed prefer to educate boys if they had to make a choice. However, in Douala, most respondents indicated that even in the face of increasing poverty, they would give equal opportunity in education to their male and female children. (Box 3.2). Douala seems to be the exception to the pattern of drop-out rates for boys and girls, as this was reported to be almost identical for both sexes in primary schools. This is a pattern of adaptation and behavior-change observed in the last three years. Parents encourage family members to look for work so as to increase the family's chances of survival by diversifying sources of income. They also argue that in the present circumstances of dire financial need, it is easier and more logical for them to pull boys out of school rather than girls. "The boys, " they claim, "can do oddjobs such as pushing the cart, washing cars and work on construction sites." As for girls, opportunities for employment in the economy were seen as very slim. At least 60% of parents interviewed mentioned that the cost of education has sunk them deeper into debt in the last 5 years. Coping Mechanismrs in Education Box 3.2. Reasonsfor Higher Enrollment and Retention of Girls in Schools in Douala 3.17. Several modes of adaptation have been aeveopedto rspon to hallngesin eucaton. 4 Many parents have come to the conclusion that developed to respond to challenges in education. girls can achieve just as high standards in Tlhese include: education as boys; 4 In one of the areas studied, the existence of a 4 drop out from school in preference for Public High School for girls has been a great avenues of immediate income; impetus for sending girls to secondary school; a The presence of successful educated female role 4 preference to educate boys, not girls, models in the community; particularly in the Far North province; 4 Incrased parental protection of girls in the face 4 examination fraud by students, teachers of rising crime rate tends to keep girls indoors and parents; compared to boys. This indirectly creates opportunities for the girls to study while 4r enrollment of children in public schools remaining at home; where the cost (and quality) of education 4 An increasing awareness anong the girls that for are lower than in private schools; them, education is the best exit out of poverty. In 4 PTA contributions in cash and kind. the words of some respondents, "boys can experiment with their lives in more ways than 3.18. Through PTAs, communities have built gi calL" and/or maintained facilities and pay or subsidize Source: PPA Synthesis Report 1994. teachers salaries. Education seems to have suffered as children are engaged more in 40 community efforts of the schools (contracts to build bricks, farming on school and teachers' farms, etc.) than in actual school learning. Standards are perceived to have declined dramatically and parents complained that children spend approximately 5 of 7 hours on other labor tasks and only 2 hours learning. Lack of facilities and secondary schools, and long distances to secondary schools, are a key deterrent to rural youth not continuing education. Mobilt and Transport Figure 3.5 The Sectoral Impact of Poor Infrastructure on the Rural and Urban Poor Poor transportation Bad roads No roads, rno bridges Inaccessible in rainy season Limnit Access to Health Education Services * Rural children do not go because * General bad conditions all year too far too walk * Roads impassable in rainy season Isolation - teachers do not want * High cost of transportation to to work in isolated/cut off areas health centers Parents cannot afford transportation fees Economnic Production Agricultural Production * Condition of roads limits flow of No markets for products goods and services and radev High transportation costs between commercial centers and Hard to get inputs neighboring states Difficut access to farms * High transportation coss translated Transportation costs deter to high transacion costs agicultural extension workers Gander Limited mobility for women especially in rainy season 3.19. The issue of inadequate infrastructure was a key concern to urban and rural communities alike. Limited mobility, especially in rural areas, greatly reduced inter-village and rural/provincial trade and commerce. At the village level, access to transport and market infrastructure for commerce and farm produce was a major concem. Access to roads was consistently rated as a very high priority. Many of the problems of the poor (lack of access to health, education and markets) are compounded by the limited or non-existent infrastructure (roads and bridges) which cut off many villages and make some inaccessible for up to four months in the rainy season. Commerce in the South West is strangled by the poor road network linking up the main commercial centers (Mamfe, Bamenda, Kumba). The situation is worse in the interior rural areas (harsh terrain, rivers, streams, hills and forest). Poor transport and poor (or no) roads are a key contributor to poverty in this area. In provincial centers and rural market towns such as Mamfe and Kumba, poor farm-to-market roads translate into higher food prices, 41 and limited trading with the hinterland of the towns. Because of the terrain, physical isolation is common in many parts of rural Cameroon. In the South West Province, 86% of the samnple stated issues related to poor transport to be a major contributor to their not expanding agricultural productivity and commercial/trading ventures. In urban areas, the lack of public transport entails walking or paying the higher costs of private taxis and minibuses. Respondents in all the regions found no difficulty in pointing out the linkages between transport and agriculture, health, education and development. They added that "where a road passes, development follows right on its heels " (Figure 3.S). Unfortunately, most of the rural roads in all the rmgions studied are passable only in the dry season, the time of low agricultural activity. In the rainy season when the roads are most needed, they are filled with potholes, sticky mud and gullies. 3.20. A respondent who sells foodstuffs in Maroua pointed out that 20 kg. of plantains selling in Yaounde for 500 francs would cost 4,000 francs in Maroua, due principally to transportation costs. Traders in food crops mentioned that even where the road is "good", "travel on those roads is a real nightmare" because of the numerous road blocks, police harassment and customs check points. The absence of efficient communication facilities in their regions in general means that the poor have to pay proportionally higher rates for travel; and because of bad roads, transport rates are higher in rural areas. 3.21. Poverty also has a dimension linked to physical and social isolation. Isolation takes Box 3.3: Transport Bias? many forms in different parts of the country. The opportunities for women to benefit from A focus group of female farmers in one of the regions means of transport, are also limited in many revealed that in the rainy season, drivers in their region selectively carry only men, because in the words of one ways (Box 3.3) and their access to transport is of the bush taxi drivers, "when you get stuck in the mud out of step with the transport responsibilities in the middle of the bush with a bus load of womenm (not least fetching fuelwood and water, and you're stuck in thereforever, unless you have some men transporting foodstuffs to market) embedded in on hand to push you out " the gender division of labor. In the South West Source: PPA Synthesis Report 1994. province, 86% of the sample stated poor transport to be the major cause of poverty. Many parts of the regions studied suffer from isolation due to the nature of the physical terrain; and this put the residents at a distinct disadvantage relative to others. One example is Akwaya in Mamfe District (Box 3.4). Gender Implications 3.22. Female respondents felt that the incidence of poverty has fallen more on them than on men. Customs, traditions and divergent cultural values have been largely responsible for these differential effects. In the Far North and East provinces, parents admitted that they are influenced by both culture and economic circumstances to send their daughters into marriage at an early age (11-14) to ensure that someone else take on the burden of their up-keep. In the South West, Littoral and Center provinces, most of the women interviewed stated that deteriorating circumstances have led to women assuming duties that were traditionally reserved for men. For example, more women said they had to pay for school fees for the children, pay medical bills and even give some pocket money to their husbands who are out of work. They are able to do this from whatever incomes they can eke out of petty trading in foodstuffs, used clothing, street restaurants and farming. 42 Box 3.4: Isolation-The Case ofAkwaya An example of the social cost and economic losses to productivity as a result of isolation is Akwaya in Mamfe District, created in 1973 as a sub-division. It has an area of 6,000 square kilometers and is an enclave. Poverty in Akwaya is direttly attributed to its isolation from the rest of the country because of the absence of roads. This means no access to markets, no incentives for production, no Government services. Indeed, for the people of Akwaya, Nigeria is more a reality and has a greater impact on their daily lives than events in Cameroon. It has no road connection with any part of Cameroon. Akwaya shares a 100 km long border with Nigeria. To get to Akwaya is a trek on foot of 16 km from the Nigerian border. To get to Mamfe in Cameroon is a trek of 283 km becausc there is no direct road. The road through Nigeria is 3-5 hours hard trek, while across the Saturn bridge it is three full days. Through Bamenda to Njikwa (provincial and commercial centers in the south west) is also a one-day trek. In the rainy season (4 months), Akwaya is totally cut off because the streams are too high and too fast to swim across. Before devaluation, it was estimated that a road from Mamfe to Akwaya would cost CFAF 10 million. The Govermment could not fund it then, and, as locals observe, is even less in a position to do so now. Akwaya is mostly an agricultural state and most of the people grow rice as a cash crop which is sold to Nigeria. Most trade is done with the towns of Ekong and Ebadu in Cross River State, Nigeria The lack of roads is a major constraint to economic production. There is no incentive for large scale production of coffee and cocoa because of no access to markets, and little demand in Nigeria. There is a market for rice in Nigeria and, in 1993, the area produced an estimated 200-300 tons of rice which were exported to Nigeria. The disconnection of Akwaya from the rest of the country was underscored by the Nigerian Government's awarding its Cross River State the National Prize for the Highest Producer of Ricc in Nigeria. The bulk of that produce was grown in Akwaya, Cameroon. Source: PPA Synthesis Report 1994. 3.23. In all the study sites, respondents recognized that there have been significant changes in the roles of women. Results from all the study sites (except the Far North) show that women predominate in the informal sector, and that female involvement and participation in the economic sphere in Cameroon has grown remarkably. Most men interviewed admit that the drop in incomes from cash crops (prior to the devaluation of the CFA franc) has greatly reduced their dominance in financial decision-making. 3.24. Changing gender roles offer new opportunities for women, but also new burdens, putting more pressure on them to earn independent income. Women view these changes very positively, as this has opened up avenues for female empowerment and innovation. In the Far North, many Moslem women acknowledged that they are no longer constrained by tradition and culture to "remain behind the veil and fence. " The general impression is one of increased opportunities for women, captured in the expression coined by the men that "...the economic crisis has given the women the keys to the gates of the family enclosure." 3.25. The immobility of women conditioned by entrenched values was seen to be a determinant in the cultural and social perpetuation of poverty. Coupled with institutional rigidities, the incidence of poverty on women was seen to have far-reaching repercussions. Women's access to national institutions in the Far North is greatly handicapped by the fact that they do not possess national identity cards. Without them, women cannot vote, nor can they initiate a judicial process, nor travel further than the family enclosure. Because women systematically and traditionally have little say on critical issues of intra-household resource allocation and decision-making, and owing to the fact that they are illiterate in the language of Government administrators, women have little chance of voicing their opinions. 43 III. Ltnk1?i Findin6s to PoliCy Rccommeidations: The Action PI"1 of the Poor 3.26. The picture emerging from all of the regions covered by the PPA was one of a marked change in the quality of life of the poor, as a result of the deteriorating social and economic conditions over the preceding five-year period. In addition to the adaptations in education and health mentioned above, the coping mechanisms adopted by the majority of those interviewed include: + diversification of sources of income, with a greater role given to income eaned largely in the informal sector by women; 4 voluntary impoundment or outright sale of movable assets (cars, refrigerators, furniture), 4 use of alternative sources of energy (e.g., firewood instead of cooking gas, sawdust instead of charcoal); 4 direct involvement in part-time farming among urban population, especially civil servants; 4 savings in the informal sector (njangi, or tontines), where feasible, as a safety net; formation of community-based self-help groups, for instance garbage collection crews in Douala and Yaounde, and farming groups in the East; 4. increased participation in social and cultural associations; v conversion of private homes and churches into classrooms and small unlicensed businesses. 3.27. Building on the Efforts of the Poor. One of the positive features in Cameroon is that in many areas poor communities are relying on themselves to meet their basic needs. There is a strong tradition of meeting community needs (schools, health centers, infrastructure maintenance, staffing health centers, providing small loans etc.) through PTAs, traditional councils, and neighborhood leaders. The building of roads, schools, health centers, payment of teachers' salaries is done through community self-help at great and increasing personal sacrifice. It is questionable how sustainable these efforts are without strategic Government interventions. The Government has a central role to play in the provision of critical infrastructure-roads and clean water, as well as social services in education and health. The scale of investment required is such that it cannot be met by local community efforts alone. The Government can also play a coordinating and advisory role in provision of technical advice for water wells, community sanitation programs (for well protection, building of latrines), and to improve agricultural production and crop diversification. 3.28. Roads. A very high priority is the provision and maintenance of good roads. Of the regions covered by the PPA, the importance of roads was highlighted particularly in the East and South West provinces. The highest priority would be improving main roads and farm-to-market 44 roads. This will go a long way to improving the lives of the poor by increasing accessibility to markets for their agricultural products, reducing transport costs to schools and hospitals, and reducing costs of supplies transported to their villages. Roads are a major constraint on the development and expansion of agriculture. This is an area where Government can intervene and have an immediate and positive impact. 3.29. Improving the Delivery of Health Services. Another high priority is improvement of health services and addressing the need for affordable and available drugs for preventive health care (especially malaria), in particular in rural areas in the rainy season. Improvement of roads would also increase the capacity of the poor to have access to hospital emergency care, especially during the rainy season when each household member's labor is most needed. The performance of Government health workers would be enhanced by increasing salaries to motivate staff and training which emphasizes human relations as well as traditional technical matters. Service delivery would also be improved by ensuring that appropriate drugs (for malaria in rainy season and dysentery etc. in the dry season) are available in hospitals, or in nearby phannacies. 3.30. Water and Sanitation. Improving access to clean, safe water year-round is an issue in both urban and rural areas that can be addressed at the community level. In the Far North, the climate and harsh terrain make water even more of a priority, especially for women who in some cases spend three hours in the morning just to fetch water. 3.31. Reducing Women's Labor Time Constraints. The time and labor constraints, especially of women, can be addressed by developing and making available domestic technology such as fuel efficient stoves that reduce use of and time spent collecting firewood, hand grinders, and accessible potable water as well as appropriate modes of transport for women in rural areas. Some of the recommendations above (improved roads, provision and protection of water supply) will go a long way toward easing the time constraints women face. Energy-saving devices such as grain mills, location of accessible sources of fuel and clean water would lighten their extremely heavy workload. Women in urban areas engaged in informnal sector activities would also benefit. IV. Conclsion 3.32. The strength and potential of Cameroon lies in its people. It is the task of the country's institutions to bring out and support this basic strength. As heard from the 1,600 households in diverse areas of Cameroon, the country's institutions are not now performing this needed developmental function. The dominant sentiment of the PPA is that what Government presence there is at the local level is not viewed favorably and is not focused on responding to the needs of the poor. While economic growth is clearly a necessary condition for the reduction of poverty, it must just as clearly be complemented by sound institutional reform aimed at the effective delivery of social services and, ultimately, the empowerment of the poor to take increasing control over their own development process. 3.33. Key findings which emerge from the PPA process are: 4 "Hiatus" between the Government and the Governed. There is a widespread perception of disjuncture between the Government and the govemed. The majority of respondents 45 perceived public institutions to be unresponsive and inefficient for a number of reasons including: perceived high level of corruption in the civil service; perceived abandonment of the agricultural sector by the Government; neglect of basic infrastructure services (e.g. roads and health); and over-centralization of public services. The lack of accountability at various levels in the society constitutes, in the view of the poor, a serious handicap to poverty reduction in Cameroon. Limited Access to Transport and Market Infrastructure. Inadequacy of transport infrastructure was perceived to be one of the most important impediments to development. The condition of roads in rural areas, especially in the South West and East provinces, is such that passage is very arduous or impossible at certain times of the year. Transporting goods to and from market, and access to public services, schools and health centers, becomes prohibitive in such conditions. Food Insecurity and Hunger. Many of the poor eat only one meal a day which is of little nutritional value. Seventy three percent of those interviewed in the South West reported that their diet had deteriorated over the past 12 months. Respondents in the Far North feared that many would be affected by famine this year. The main constraints to increasing food production were the low level of technology, poor extension services, and the poor condition of farm-to-market roads. Changing Gender Roles. Changing gender roles offer new opportunities for women, but also new burdens. The drop in incomes from cash crops has reduced the sphere of influence of men in household financial decision-making. Increased participation of women in the informal sector has opened up avenues for female empowerment and innovation, and, in the Far North, has given them increased mobility. Such changes are tempered by increasing dropout rates, early marriage, and prostitution for young girls, as increasingly prevalent mechanisms for coping with falling incomes. Reliance on Informal Social Safety Nets and Solidarity Mechanisms. Community and individual needs are met through traditional chiefs, PTAs, religious organizations, savings and other social groups. Minimum security and protection take the form of family and community solidarity groups, including women's solidarity groups, informal credit systems, and use of intra-household and kinship-based networks. Although vibrant, especially in the South West and North West, these networks are reaching their limits and need to be complemented by targeted public expenditures that could relieve the burden, especially on the poorest households. C4 X~~~~~q= e^c p - ;t '14 ' - IN. IN. %.~ t-I I 4 Food: PervAsive lnsecunty 1. Inftroduction 4.1. The present chapter reviews the operation of the food system in Cameroon and how it affects the poor. The national food system includes a range of interrelated activities, involving all phases of the food chains from production to consumption. Severe distortions in the food system have been caused by over-emphasis on agro-industrial investments and the promotion of export crops at the expense of the smallholder agricultural sector, the main provider of food, which has been neglected. The conditions for sustainable agriculture have not been created. This chapter identifies the features of the present system which should be corrected by directing over time a significant portion of available resources to restoration of the national food system. By providing financial and technical intermnediation, business support services could accelerate the recovery of the food sector. This sector is presently unable to ensure for all Cameroonians at all times physical and economic access to the staple food they need. The ultimate aim of a well- functioning food system is to provide global food security. Traditional staple foods from subsistence farming have not benefited from available research, improved technologies already in use in Asia, or even access to urban markets because of poor communication networks. However, they could become pivotal in markedly improving food security. Part II reviews recent trends in nutritional status and food consumption patterns, and how these have been affected by economic developments. Part III discusses agricultural production and marketing, and Part IV reviews the critical sectors of commercial farming and food industries in Cameroon. II. Nutrttiotn and Food ConSulnytion Relatively High Levels of Malnutrition 4.2. In spite of marked improvement in nutritional status since independence, relatively high levels of malnutrition and high prevalence of micronutrient deficiency diseases persist in Cameroon. Twenty-five percent of all Cameroonian children under five years are of small stature for their age (stunted), 14% are underweight, and 4% are wasted I (CDHS 1991). From 1978 to 1991, the level of chronic undernutrition (as measured from the prevalence of stunting) has Nutritional status is commonly defined from measures of height and weight of children in relation to their age; three different indicators are used: stunting, a failure to grow adequately in height in relation to age; this indicator is taken to reflect past or chronic undernutrition over an extended period of time but it also reflects repeated exposure to chronic illness; wasting, low weight in relation to height, which reflects normally recent or "acute' undernutrition; it can be caused by a relatively short but severe episode of inadequate nutrition or by acute illness, such as diarrhea; and underweight, or low weight in relation to age, can be due to either chronic or "acute" undernutrition and is associated with either wasting (without stunting) or both wasting and stunting. so fallen.2 Chronic malnutrition has declined by 60% in Yaounde but only by 20% in rural areas indicating a strong bias in favor of the two principal cities (Figure 4.1). Other urban centers indicate an intermediate improvement of 40%. Chronic undernutrition declined in all provinces but considerably less so in the Adamaoua/North/Far North region and East province than elsewhere. Underweight, a sign of acute malnutrition, increased in the Adamoua/North/Far North region and East province but dropped in all other provinces. Children in the Adamoua/North/Far North region are three time more likely to be underweight than children from most other provinces. Prevalence of anemia is estimated at 40% for rural women (25% for Yaound6); prevalence of goiter is high, but also highly localized, with prevalence ranging from about 3% to 75% depending on the region (Annex I Table 6). Much of the health investment in Cameroon is directed to the coastal, western, central, and southern areas-the areas in which nutritional status has noticeably improved (Chapter 6). Figure 4.1 Stunting By Residence 1978 and 1991 o 1978 ~~~~~~~22 p 20~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I 15~~~~[ 19 Y10 nt t YacumbidiCDUal Otie Ukbw ~ Rt,aJ 4.3. Malnutrition is directly associated with poverty and women's occupation. 1 in 3 children whose mothers are farmers show signs of growth retardation. Children whose mothers are engaged in agriculture are five times more likely to suffer from stunting than children of mothers who are professionals (Figure 4.2). Comparison of children's weight and measurement of the arm circumference at the Melen primary school in Yaounde between 1989 and 1994 reveal substantial differences in weight-for-height, weight-for-age, and arm circumference between these two dates. The survey shows that the economic crisis has had a measurable effect on the nutritional status of these choldren, as children are considerably thinner (Annex I Table 7). It can be hypothesized that meals are less nutritious and of lower quantity. These are principally children of middle and high-level civil servants. These preliminary results suggest that among low-income categories there is a strong likelihood that nutritional status has deteriorated even more. 2 This is based on comparison of data from the 1978 national nutrition survey and the 1991 CDHS on children aged 3 to 59 months. 51 Figure 4.2 Prevalence of Stunting by Occupation of the Mother, 1991 35- :1 30- 25. ~20. 15- 10 ~ 5 0V Pmfessional Manual Housevfe Intemaediate Agnculture Source: CDHS 1991. Nutrition Education and Breast Feeding 4.4. Only 2% of infants are exclusively breastfed for the first 4 months of life, which is Boax 4.1: Inadequate breastfeeding practices the optimal infant feeding practice recommended by the WHO (Box 4.1). While Breast feeding is usually initiated very late in recom e by tCameroon. According to the CDHS, over 70% of nearly all infants receive water and other infants are not put to the breast within 24 hours of liquids too early, a sizable proportion of birth. Mothers in the Adamaoua, North, and Far North infants are also given complementary foods region are more likely than mothers in other areas to too late. The WHO recommends that breastfed delay the initiation of breast feeding beyond 24 hours. infants begin receiving complementary food A high proportion of infants are fed complementary liquids and solids within the first two months of life. As between 4 and 6 months of age. In Cameroon, a result, infant mortality caused by diarrhea and however, at age 6 to 9 months, 8% of infants dehydration is high. are already fully weaned and nearly 20% of _ breastfed infants of this age are not receiving complementary foods. Stagnation in Food Consumption 4.5. Over the last 30 years, consumption of products containing sugars, meats, oils and fats has increased while the share of calories from roots and tubers in the average Cameroonian diet has diminished. Dietary intake of calories and proteins has increased markedly until the early eighties. In recent years however, dietary intake has declined steadily, reflecting the economic crisis. It has stabilized at around 2,200 kcal and 55 g of proteins per capitalday since 1981-83 which is only 5 % higher than its level in the early 1960s.3 There are large regional differences in 3 This finding was confirmed in the interviews with the poor during the PPA (Chapter 3). 52 dietary pattems. In the southern forest zone, for example, root crops supply about 60% to 70% of dietary calories, with cassava alone accounting for about 44% of the total. In contrast, in the north, millet, sorghum and maize account for 60% of energy intake. This has direct relevance to the type of intensification of production which should be assisted to make staple food more accessible to low income groups. Deterioration of the Cameroonian Diet 4.6. Analysis of food consumption budget trends in 1983-93 shows that the level of food expenditure per capita has declined by 30% in 10 years (Table 4.1). Changes in budget outlays for food items suggest that important shifts in dietary patterns have occurred, with a sharp reduction in the most valued foods, which indicates a deterioration in the diet of Cameroonians. Table 4.1 Food Expenditure Per Capita 1983-1993 (in CFAF millions) 1993 1983 1993 Amount Price (CFAF93) (CFAF83) (CFAF83) 1 .- Cereals 16 22 18 -21,0 -12,0 2. - Starchy Foods 12 22 31 +36,9 -60,9 3. - Vegetables 10 15 14 -4,7 -29,0 4. - Fruits 4 4 7 +95,5 -43,0 S. - Dairy products, eggs 3 6 5 -24,8 -45,2 6. - Oils, Fats 14 15 29 +95,2 -51,8 7. - Meats 14 26 17 -33,8 -19,8 S. - Fish products 14 21 14 -32,6 + 2,5 9. - Drinks, tobacco 10 21 _ -68,6 +58,2 TOTAL 97 152 = 106 -30,3 -8,3 Sowrce: HBS(1983/84); ECM93. 4.7. Consumption of animal products such as meats, fish, eggs and milk, already relatively weak, has shown the strongest decline. In middle-income groups, drinks and tobacco, the most expensive daily miscellaneous "luxuries", are consumed in smaller quantities. Some of these trends are favorable from a public health standpoint even if they express a reduction in the standard of living. Low-income dwellers eat only one meal a day. Their diet has become more monotonous and of even lower nutritional value. Food Consumption and the Poor in Yaounde in 1993 4.8. Comparison of levels of household consumption by income groups shows large differences between groups. Thus, poor households spend CFAF 25,000 per capita per year on their food needs, while non-poor households spend 6 times as much (Table 4.2).4 Poor households allocate a greater share of their budget to cereals and vegetables, which provide a low-cost alternative to animal products. By contrast, expenses for meat, dairy products, drinks and tobacco are directly correlated to income levels. 4 This classification of households by poverty level corresponds to that defined in Chapter 2. 53 Table 4.2 Consumption and Food Budget Shares, by Poverty Level Type of Household Poor Intermediate Non Poor Mean Food consumption per person in 25,000 55,000 153,000 97,000 CFA per year FOOD BUDGET SHARES (%) 1. - Cereals 27,0 21,3 14,1 16,0 2. - Starchy Foods 10,2 12,8 11,8 11,9 3. - Vegetables 16,7 12,3 9,5 10,4 4. - Fruits 3,3 4,5 4,1 4,1 5. - Dairy products, eggs 1,0 1,9 3,1 2,7 6. - Oils, fats 12,0 11,2 15,5 14,6 7. - Meat 9,8 9,1 15,9 14,4 8. - Fish Products 14,4 17,1 14,5 14,9 9. - Drinks, tobacco 5,6 9.8 11,6 11,0 TOTAL 100 100 100 100 Sources; HBS(1983/84)-ECM93 Ill. Agrtcultural Productfon and Marketfqg The Agricultural Sector 4.9. Cameroon is richly endowed with fertile agricultural land in some regions and a largely favorable range of climates (Chapter 5). There is considerable potential to expand cultivation in regions with good soils and adequate rainfall and Cameroon could easily be a food-exporting country. Although only 4% of the national territory is under cultivation, agriculture is the main activity of about 80% of the population and contributes a quarter of total export earnings. The mainstay for food crop production is the small-scale family farm. It is estimated from agricultural census data that 70% of the 1.3 million existing farms are smaller than 2 hectares. Similarly, most of the transportation, processing and marketing of food crops is from the traditional sectors. Despite a marked increase in production over the last 30 years, the agricultural and food processing sectors have failed so far to ensure adequate food security to the Cameroonian population. Several indicators show the gradual deterioration of per capita agricultural production in the late 1980s (from index 101 in 1981-83 to 86 in 1988-90). Food self-sufficiency itself declined steadily from index 108 in 1961-63 to 86 in 1988-90 (FAO 1993). A 20-year Perspective on Food Security in Cameroon 4.10. Over the last 30 years, there has been a gradual decline of traditional crops in the diet, under pressure from artificially cheap imported foods. Commercial farming and food imports together have grown from 10% of national food availability to almost one-third (29%), because small-scale farmers could not compete with cheaper imported food imported in meeting effective demand from urban centers. From 1971 to 1990 the share of the smallholder sector declined from 82% to 62% of food energy supply (Figure 4.3). Comparison of the respective contributions of the smallholder sector and the commercial and industrial sectors to national food 54 supply confirms the decline of the traditional sector and the global stagnation in food availability. The mean annual growth rate of food energy availability from 1970 to 1992 has been lower (2.7%) than population growth (2.9%). Food energy availability from the smallholder sector grew at a rate of only 0.8%, resulting in a gradual decline (-2% per annum) of the contribution of this sector to national food supply. Figure 4.3 Camerroon Contribution of Various Sectors to Food Availability 100% - I * Animal Production 60% lk Beverage Production s Agro-indusorial sethor 0 a dl Imports senters. Intensive rural-urban migration has seriously affected the Traditional Sector 20% - ~~~ ~ 00 0' 0 ~~~~0 0, O @ Source: Varlet 1993, own estimates. 4.11. Many factors have led to the decline of small scale farming: excessive taxation of cash crops, lack of support to food crops, hardships of agricultural production, absence of marketing support lack of social and education services in rural areas, traditional pattemns of authority and marriage as distinct from the apparent diversity of lifestyles and opportunities offered by urban centers. Intensive rural-urban migration has seriously affected the agricultural working population. Migration is most intensive from the ages of 18 to 35 and principally concerns men. As a result, the aging and feminization of the farner population creates additional difficulties to extension agents, as older and women farmers have more difficulty adapting to new technology. Agro-Ecological Diversity 4.12. The chief crops grown in higher rainfall areas are cassava, plantain and yam followed by sweet potatoes and coco-yam. A wide range of secondary crops are also grown and used to prepare sauces and condiments. Mixed cropping, with as many as ten crops planted together or sequentially is the norm, especially in the south. As a result of population pressure, fallow periods are becoming shorter and soil fertility is declining. In somewhat drier regions of central Cameroon, maize, cassava and beans are the main staple foods. The Adamaoua plateau represents a transition zone from plantain, roots and tubers in the South to cereal based diets in the North. Cameroon's drier north, with spacious savanna and steppe, presents a striking contrast to the forested south. Here the bulk of the countys livestock is reared and driven southward "on the hoof" to feed the cities, although fruit trees, garden, and field crops are also cultivated. In the north, sorghum and millet, associated with cotton and groundnuts (as cash crops) are the major 55 crops. Irrigated rice cultivation has been developed at high cost on the North-Eastern border, near the Logone River. Drought is the most serious threat and frequent periods of food shortage have occurred. Slow Decline in Staple Food Production 4.13. With oil revenues on the decline, agriculture has again become the cornerstone of development. Food production has not kept pace with population growth (2.9%). Production of sorghum and millet has declined significantly since 1986-87 (560,000 tons), down to 325,000 tons in 1989-90; Maize production increased from 300,000 (1985-86) to 440,000 tons in 1989- 90. State agencies have often been ineffective in stimulating production and trade. Staple food production such as cassava (1.5 million tons in 1985-86) declined to 1.3 million tons in 1991-92 and plantain from 1.2 million tons to 0.8 million tons. The sharp reduction in global staple food availability was not offset by the moderate increase for some crops such as yams (95,000 tons up to 100,000 tons from 1985-86 to 1991-92). The overvaluation of the CFA franc, which meant that imported foods were less costly, also constituted an additional disincentive to production. 4.14. Surveys conducted in Yemessoa in 1991 and 1993 indicate that even in remote and isolated villages producing cash crops the dietary pattern has become very vulnerable to price changes of basic commodities. Since 25% to 40% of their income was spent on foods not produced in the region, the sharp decline in income forces many rural dwellers to return to consumption of food they produce themselves (Kamden 1994). Food Crops Neglected 4.15. For many years, in Cameroon and elsewhere in Africa, agricultural research neglected the root crops that are essential subsistence staples. Colonial research institutes, then technical assistance, focused instead on increasing the production of cash and export crops, ignoring until recent years crops grown for food. Even among food crops, cereals and legumes took research priority over roots and tubers, even though these latter are widely consumed and are of at least equal importance for food security objectives. Post-harvest losses are one of the main bottlenecks in food marketing, with losses estimated at between 20% and 30% for grains and legumes and above 50% for fruits and vegetables. These issues, closely associated with improving road networks to link producing areas with markets, have not received attention commensurate with the magnitude of losses. Lack of Food Marketing Infrastructure 4.16. In spite of the increasing demand for food products as a result of the rapid increase in population, the marketing and transportation system has not yet been organized to fulfill the important task of food distribution in an efficient manner. A recent study identified two parallel systems in food crop marketing: the traditional marketing systems made primarily of a local private sector; and a modern marketing system involving mostly Govemment institutions and parastatals(SEMA 1989). 4.17. The influence of the latter in the volume of trade is extremely limited, since the traditional marketing system handles more than 95% of marketed food. Specialization by type of product among the various classes of intermediaries is not common and the volume of trade of each of them is relatively modest. Ownership of vehicles is very limited among intermediaries. 56 Retail of food commodities is mostly carried out in open- air markets. The various types of markets have very limited facilities to permit optimal operation of the marketing function (storage, cold rooms, market stalls, toilets, etc.). Exchange of food products between regions is very limited. As a result, the distribution of fresh roots and tubers such as cassava, cocoyamns, yams, and plantains does not extend very far from production centers. It involves mostly producers who sell directly to consumers or to retailers. The quantity handled in inter-regional trade is often too small to justify large investments. But a national program to expand the network of small roads would be justified. There is also insufficient urban-to-rural flow of food products. The market for foodstuffs could be competitive in terms of the number of market participants and the conditions of entry and exit. Competition is limited due to poor dissemination of information, and lack of coordination between suppliers, marketing agents and consumers. As a result of the deficiencies of local supply channels, imports of foodstuffs grew steadily over the 1970-80 period and kept their market share despite the economic crisis. The Division of Labor in Food Production Observers, confronted by the spectacle of women bending over their hoes through the day while a number of men may be seen lounging in the compounds, are apt to regard the division of labor as not only inequitable but as an exploitation of the female sex. (Kaberry 1952). 4.18. Women play a major role in both food production and marketing. Until recently, Cameroon managed to increase food production to meet only part of the demand from a growing population and rapidly expanding urban centers. Most of this extra food was produced on small farms by female farmers, using the simplest hoe technology, rarely benefiting from external agricultural advice or from improved seeds, fertilizer or credit. This food has reached the urban consumers through a complex network of mostly private small traders. The people of Douala and Yaounde are fed today through the efforts of thousands of individual women farmers who have succeeded in growing, processing and marketing more and more food, without much assistance of public services, and with little help from their husbands, who are often involved in non-food cash crop farming or in off-farm activities (Eyben 1983). Most producers (mainly women) are involved in food retailing. Wholesalers are mostly men. The proportion of women involved at the retail level ranges from 55% in the northem provinces to about 85% in the southern provinces. In recent years, however, food production has declined, and it seems that food producers will be unable to keep pace with demand unless they gain access to new technologies. Improving the productivity of small-scale female farmers (who grow 90% of the country's foodstuffs) has become an urgent problem in Cameroon. 4.19. Since food is produced, processed and marketed primarily by women, and as there is ample evidence that women are overworked, many gender-sensitive researchers have questioned the appropriateness of present policies to raise food production in African countries. Henn (1988) shows conclusively from a study conducted about 60 miles from Yaounde that if women are to dispose of more time to supply urban markets, they need reliable labor-saving technologies and credit. Women located in a village on a main road were able to spend more time producing food to sell, and made an average income of $570, more than twice the $225 earned by women in an isolated village located 1.5 hours from the road. When women increased their income, men expected them to devote more of their earnings to family needs. As women's income increased, they had to buy a larger portion of the kerosene, soap and other household needs, including medical bills for the family (Box 4.2). Men, mostly involved in cocoa 57 production, earned annually, in total, over $1,600 in one village and over $1,100 in the other. They dedicated very little time to food production and only if the margin of profit was significantly higher than for women's activities. 4.20. The estimates of women's and men's Bar 4.2: Houehold Fxpenditures annual working hours of the sample studied is presented in Figure 4.4. The most striking Men and women kept separate budgets. Women in Bilik contrast is between men's and women's total Bindik spent more money on food than men even though labor hours. Men's total weekly labor men's incomes are twice as high as women's. The same 32 hours, while women's is over 64 phenomenon was observed for medical expenses and for averages 32 nours, whlle women s IS over oe purchases of essential household inputs such as kerosene hours, though much of this enormous and soap. Examination of the data in these categories disparity results from differences in domestic shows that as women increase their incomes, men labor hours, (31 for women and 4 for men). actually decrease or considerably moderate their Even full-time male farmers work only 14 spending on family necessities thereby shifting more of the burden of family maintenance costs on women. hours a week in agriculture, 10 of which are devoted to cocoa production and 4 to food. Source: Henn 1988. Figure 4.4 Cameroon Weeldy Hours of Labor by Activity and Gender 35 / 25 - ! * Women 320 15 _ o. z to Domestic Family Marked Cooax Palm Wine Other Labor Food Food Production Production Income Production Processing Generating Source: Henn 1988. 58 4.21. Most of women's agricultural labor is spent producing food for family consumption- over 16 hours a week. In contrast, male farmers spend three hours a week on subsistence food production, one hour helping to clear women's peanut fields and two hours cultivating plantain in the forest field. Whereas most labor surveys report that African men do the "heaviest work" in food production-cutting trees and clearing new fields-this survey found that men did less clearing labor than might have been expected. While men did about half the labor necessary to clear a forest field (a project undertaken every 3-4 years), women spent twice as much time as men clearing the biannually cultivated peanut fields. Women also spend considerably more time than men producing food for the market. Ninety-four percent of the women but only 24% of the men sold food. 4.22. Other research confirms the disproportionately heavy workload of women. A team of survey workers from the Center for Nutrition in Yaounde recorded daily activities of over 1,500 individuals in 10 separate groups from different regions. Two-thirds were women, mostly farmers. On average, men spend twice as much as women in social activity (216%) or 22% of their waking hours. Men also dedicate 34% of their waking time to personal activities, compared with 22% for women. Women devote 20% of their time to agriculture and men 18%. The principal difference is the time spent on domestic work and handicraft: 40% for women c-ompared with 9% for men. Because of their heavy domestic workload, women can dedicate only one-quarter of their waking hours to directly productive activities compared with one-third for men (Figure 4.5). Figure 4.5 Cameroon Fana icFa.rmns Gender Difference in Time Allocation Q Male Fanmers 401 353 U30. 25. 10 Housework Personal Agriculture Social & Activities Activities Handicraft Source: Koppert 1994. 59 IV. Tht ArO-Industrtal Scctor Increasing Food Dependency of Cameroon 4.23. In 1980, the Lagos Plan of Action set food security as a priority goal. At that time, self- sufficiency was considered to be the most appropriate strategy and agricultural research stations were instructed to develop a range of new varieties of local crops and to improve technologies to allow the country to reach that goal. The increasing import dependency of the country for certain food commodities was a major concern: for grains, for example, the global dependency from imports rose from 6% in 1981 to almost 17% in 1986. (39% for rice and 75% for wheat). Meat imports, which used to represent 1.5% of consumption in 1981, rose to near 12% in 1986. Fish consumption which was dependent on imports for 26% of requirements, increased to 71.4%. Milk rose from 9% to 16.5% for the same period. Sugar used to be exported before 1981. From 1984 to 1986 it had to be imported: from 0.5% of national consumption to 10% in 1895 and 19.7% in 1986. Part of this rapid increase in food imports was attributed to high producer prices relative to import prices, to high demand for convenience foods by a rapidly increasing urban population, and to a decline in demand for locally-produced staple foods. The Severe Distortion in the Agro-Food Sector 4.24. Unfortunately, the national food security strategy stemming from the Lagos Plan of Action was not implemented. Most of the restructuring efforts implemented since 1989 concentrated on export crops. But the needs of the agro-food sector were no less severe and urgent. Structural reorganization of the food sector in Cameroon must take into account the distortions created by the inefficiency of public administration and low prices of major commodities on world markets: sugar, palm oil, rice, wheat. National producers have been affected both by the contraction of markets resulting from falling household incomes and by competing imports from industrialized countries at highly subsidized prices. The only agricultural export which has not suffered excessively from these conditions seems to be bananas. Patterns of taxation in the sector have also been an important issue (Box 4.3). Box 4.3: Taxation ofCash Crop Farmers Small and large producers of export crops have been discouraged by excessive taxation. Implicit taxation of arabica coffee, for example, allowed large transfers from the rural to the urban sector. When world prices for arabica coffee and other export crops were high in the mid-1980s, the state marketing board, ONCPB, retained most of the surplus value. Better prices to producers would have encouraged adequate care of plantations and new plantings, and the tree stock would not be in the degraded condition in which it is found today. Source: Steedman and Amegbeto 1994. Very Small Food Processing Firms Among Most Dynamic Actors 4.25. Firms in the food and beverage sectors are among the fastest growing and most dynamic in Cameroon. From 1987 to 1992 the average growth rate of firms in this sector has been 15%, and for micro-firms 35%. In comparison, small and micro firms in other sectors (textile and clothing, wood and furniture and metal and machinery) have grown at less than 11 % or even 60 declined over this period. Firms in the food and beverage sector provide a large amount of employment to unqualified workers and offer opportunities for on-the-job training of numerous small entrepreneurs. The food and beverage sectors have responded in a dynamic way to the severe economic crisis, and could continue to do so. 4.26. One of the major challenges for the commercial food processing sector in the 1990s for countries such as Cameroon, C6te d'Ivoire, Nigeria, and others with similar ecological conditions, is to create a food industry able to supply regional West African markets with a large range of low-cost starchy foods made from local production- cassava, yams, maize, sorghum and millet. The main characteristics should be their acceptability by local consumers, low prices, and good preservation. A large number of products should be considered: "Gari", "Foutou", semolina, pasta, bakery products, "couscous", porridges, flakes, chips, flours, biscuits, weaning foods. Such products would meet a large demand and create employment with little investment in training. The Food Security Project 4.27. To enhance food security at the community level, the Government is implementing, with Bank support, a food security project covering all but the North West Province (World Bank 1991d). The main component is a fund to support self-help initiatives by community groups through micro-projects. A first phase of the micro-enterprise investment program (FIMAC) was launched in August 1990. This provided logistical support for identifying and testing future micro project investments which could enhance food security (processing, storage, marketing) at the community level. Since 1991, in all provinces except the North West, financing of micro- projects has been extended to support essentially non-commercial investments by community groups which are not cash-generating, as well as food processing and transformation equipment, and infrastructure investments such as on-farm and village storage, watering points for livestock, fish ponds, and rural roads. This project is to-date one the most direct and effective initiatives of the Government to increase household food security. V. conclusion 4.28. Relatively high levels of malnutrition persist in Cameroon despite a significant improvement in average nutritional status since 1960. Twenty-five percent of all Cameroonian children under five still suffer from stunting, indicating a high prevalence of chronic malnutrition and chronic illness. Malnutrition rates are higher in the North and lower in the Center and West of the country. Chronic undernutrition declined from 1978 to 1991 in all provinces but considerably less so in the Adamaoua/North/Far North region and East province than elsewhere. There is also a high prevalence of micronutrient deficiency diseases (iron and iodine deficiencies, causing goiter and anemia) affecting mainly children and women of low-income groups in a large part of the country. 4.29. Policymakers and health professionals have not played an active role in the reduction of malnutrition. Collaboration between ministries to implement nutrition-related activities has been weak. Nutrition education and the promotion of breastfeeding have been neglected. There has not been any large-scale and serious attempt to reduce the excessive pressure on women's time which is a prerequisite for any improvement in household food security and nutrition. 61 4.30. The absence of incentives and support to small-scale food producers is at the heart of the present food insecurity of the country. From 1971 to 1990 the share of the smallholder sector in meeting national food supply declined by 20%. The traditional subsistence sector is declining and there is a global stagnation in food availability. In the food sector, smallholders represent approximately 90% of agricultural production. Among them, over two third are women who have little or no access to improved technologies, credit, or other inputs. Yields are consequently low (or very low) and the production of individual farrns is seldom above subsistence needs. Even crops such as grains and pulses, which could be traded over long distances, are primarily grown for own-consumption. Since 1990, the Government initiated on a large scale an innovative approach to agricultural development by providing loans directly to small groups of producers under the Bank-supported Food Security Project. This initiative appears largely successful and could be expanded to support micro-projects in the agro-industrial sector. 4.31. Women farmers are presently overworked and restricted to low-productivity technologies. As a result of present intra-household economic relationships, men dispose of more leisure time to obtain information on technological innovations or credit availability. They have easier access to loan collateral because they own land, cash crop plantations, and have higher cash incomes. By contrast, women are less informed and do not have significant possessions or connections to offer as collateral. Specific technologies and credit policies for female farmers must directed at alleviating women's labor and credit constraints. Such an approach is likely to be more cost effective to meet national food needs than are policies directed at upgrading men's qualifications or attracting more male labor into the food sector. 4.32. Small firms in the food and beverage sectors are among the fastest growing and most dynamic in Cameroon. They can contribute significantly to reduction of unemployment. In the present context of economic crisis, the increased consumption of local starchy food products to replace higher value foods could create a favorqble market for the expansion of local food industries. Processing roots and tubers into foodstuffs which have a longer shelf-life and are more quickly prepared would be of great value to urban low-income and middle-income groups. These products should be based on local traditional foods such as "atieke", "foutou", "gari", grated, fermented, and sun-dried cassava meal. 5 Environment: Land, Law, and Livehood 1. introduction 5.1. Cameroon is a country of exceptional environmental diversity, which presents both opportunities and limitations for the country's long-term development. About 70% of people in Cameroon are agrarian and pastoral, surviving in biomass-based subsistence economies and earning a living from products obtained from plants and animals (Tchoungi et al. 1993). How people make use of the land and the natural resource base has a direct bearing on the extent of resource exploitation and depletion. Pressed for survival, people often resort to behavior which has detrimental effects on the preservation of natural resources because it permits survival in the present, even at the cost of future capacity to survive.' At the same time, for an agro-pastoral country like Cameroon, having access rights to land and other land-based resources is a crucial factor in determining how people will ensure their basic livelihood. This chapter first examines some of the complex issues associated with natural resource management and environmental degradation, and their linkages with poverty, and then examines how the land tenure system has evolved over time, and its implications for poverty. In the context of a broader perspective on poverty reduction in Cameroon, it is important to address long-temn trends in land use and management, and to ascertain whether the pattems and policies that emerge are compatible with sustaining the livelihoods of poor people. II. EnvironmentaI ISSUCS and Ltacs to Povcri 5.2. Cameroon is the twenty-third largest country in Africa, but has the fifth highest number of species of mammals and plants, and populations of over 40 globally threatened animals. There are about 9,000 species of plants, with at least 156 endemic species. (Tchoungi et. al. 1993). Cameroon's location in the Gulf of Guinea and a combination of geological and climatic events have resulted in the evolution of a wide range of habitats consisting of dense, evergreen equatorial moist forest in the South, and Sahelian vegetation around Lake Chad in the North. Cameroon has lowland coastal plains and extensive uplands which extend from Mount Cameroon (4,094 m) on the Atlantic Coast to the Mandara Mountains in the North. It is often referred to as "Africa in Miniature" because almost all of the ecological zones found on the continent are also found within the country (Walker 1990). 5.3. Some of Cameroon's diverse natural environments are extremely fragile and threatened. Environmental degradation is occurring at an unprecedented rate in a cycle of over-exploitation, including declining fallow periods and deforestation of 0.6% per year (FAO 1993b), and Lack of data and rapid changes in population trends, ecosystems, and in the patterns of economic development complicate the task of articulating and documenting the linkages between resource depletion and poverty in Cameroon. Caution is therefore needed in interpreting the findings presented here. Issues related to urban land management, especially the spontaneous occupation of fragile and undeveloped lands, demand a separate study which is beyond the scope of this chapter. 63 degradation (desertification, soil erosion, loss of biodiversity), associated with population pressures, survival needs, and inadequate policies and management, which have been exacerbated by drought and human actions with deleterious environmental consequences (air and water pollution). Environmental concerns therefore cut across sectors and are linked in a "nexus" with population growth and agricultural productivity (Box 5.1). The persistence and threat of poverty, the imperatives of survival, and the absence of options mean that poor people are both contributors to and victims of environmental degradation. Low levels of education and skills, lack of access to clean water and sanitation, high rates of fertility and population growth, poor health and hygiene, and lack of mobility all contribute to Cameroon's environmental problems and to the difficulties of addressing them. The sheer numbers of people, coupled with the young age structure, place demands on social services (principally health and education) that are already unable to meet present needs (Chapter 6). Given the important and highly differentiated roles of men and women in natural resource management, and the differential constraints which limit women's capacity to perform their roles in the socio-economic system (lack of access to productive resources, such as land, labor, and credit), it is essential to address the gender dimension of environmental and natural resource management issues explicitly.2 Box S. 1: The Population, Agriculture, and Environment Nexus in Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharmn Africas demographic, agricultural, and environmental problems are linked in a nexus of mutually reinforcing causality chains. Key linkages are found in traditional crop production and livestock husbandry methods, land tenure and land-use practices, responsibilities of women in rural production and household maintenance, and methods of utilizing woodland and forest resources. These systems and practices, well suited to people's survival needs on Africa's fragile resource endowment when population densities were low and populations stable or growing slowly, came under increasing strain with the rapid acceleration of population growth. The evolution of these systems has been inadequate in the face of intensifying pressure of more people on finite stocks of natural resources. Source: Cleaver and Schreiber 1994. Deforestation and Land Degradation 5.4. Cameroon still retains about 40% of its forests, more than any coastal west African country but less than any central African country (Alpert 1993). With an 8 percent loss for all forests in 1981-90, Cameroon is one of the key tropical countries with the highest rate of loss of tropical forests. The extent and type of deforestation also have a spatial dimension. Available information on northern Cameroon indicates that deforestation of the wooded areas there is a serious problem; firewood is in short supply around the towns of Garoua and Maroua and the neighboring savannas have been severely damaged. In the Lake Chad basin there has been deforestation for agricultural purposes. 5.5. Deforestation in Cameroon is driven primarily by demand for agricultural land, and to a lesser extent for wood. In addition to timber as a tradable high-value commodity, forests supply building materials, medicinal plants, firewood, carving wood, bamboos, animal hunting, fruit and other plant food, harvesting of honey and keeping beehives. They also constitute the basis for indigenous peoples' cultural identity, and special knowledge in caring for nature, which is a skill increasingly appreciated among environmentalists (Box 5.2). Forests occupy land, however, that 2 For a discussion of gender and environmental linkages in SSA, see Clones 1992. 64 could be used for agriculture, an alternative particularly sought by farmers faced with small fields and/or inadequate yields from the fields they cultivate, or by newcomers who do not have other means of survival. Pressed to make a living, and in the absence of any restrictions, farners occupy the most easily accessible land without sufficient concem about the effect on the ecosystem, future productivity or appropriateness of the land use pattem in the longer term. Box 5.2: Indigenous Peoples The indigenous forest dwellers are isolated, self-sufficient societies with distinct socio-cultural-economic patterns. Available estimates indicate that there are between 20,000 and 35,000 Baka people in Cameroon's south-eastern forests, while the Bakola, estimated to number about 3,500, are dispersed in the coastal forests of South-West Cameroon. The semi-nomadic Baka live in harmony with their sedentary neighbors, the Bantu, who rely on the Bakas' intimate knowledge of the forest for a variety of essential products. Indigenous people in small numbers are found in other parts of Cameroon. The significance of the indigenous people of Cameroon is not quantitative, since their numbers are small, but qualitative, since the indigenous people have intimate knowledge of forests and rather sophisticated ways of managing watersheds, catchment areas, and fragile forest ecosystems. Source: Based on Horts 1991 and Fisiy 1992. 5.6. Data from estimates by WRI show that subsistence and small-scale exploitation are more significant than large-scale exploitation, but the relative importance of large-scale commercial logging is increasing. In the 1985-87 period, three-fourths of the wood harvested in Cameroon was for fuelwood, but the proportion of wood harvested for industrial roundwood was twice as high as it had been 10 years earlier. One study concluded that no productive moist forest in Cameroon could be said to be sustainably managed (Poore et al. 1989). 5.7. Cash crop agriculture and timber exports place forest depletion within the wider context of trade and the international economy. While the production of timber and crops such as cocoa, coffee, and cotton need not lead to undue environmental degradation, in practice it often does. Foreign currency revenues provide a major incentive for both unsustainable timber harvesting practices and agricultural expansion into environmentally fragile areas. The issue of natural resource taxation, especially as it applies to forestry, is a sensitive and difficult one (Box 5.3). Forestry Legislation in Cameroon 5.8. The Government of Cameroon formally regulates the use of its natural resources, though the record is mixed. The former forestry law (1981) outlined the Government policy of protecting 20% of the area of the national territory as the property of the state. In reality, however, under the 1974 land law, the state was the "guardian of all lands," which meant that the state was the owner of all unregistered lands, occupied or unoccupied, until such property were to be subject to private appropriation through registration and issue of land title. The main weakness of the 1981 forest legislation was the lack of a legal framework for planning land use and for integrating forest protection and production activities, as well as agriculture. Under the previous system there was a piecemeal "mining" approach to forest management. Loggers built roads deep into the forest to exploit the richest timber resources, opening up these areas to individual settlers. A further weakness was that under the land tenure law (see Section III below), usufruct rights permitted anybody to clear and cultivate land in "forests in the public domain", i.e., in most of the moist forest. In practice, there was no effective legal protection for public domain forests, since by planting cocoa or coffee a settler obtained the right to remain on 65 the land for the life of the crop, and thus retained de facto possession of the land (World Bank 1994e). Box 5.3: Forest Taxation The most important issues relate to the low level of taxation in the forest sector (collection rates are even lower), and the inability of the administration to ensure proper forest management. The tax burden is light especially when compared to the value of the output and to the rent which should be derived from the resource; area fees have been eroded by inflation while posted prices, which constitute the tax base for the logging and export taxes, have fallen substantially behind prices in the international market. Collection rates are low because forest fees are cumbersome to administer, requiring tallies and physical measurement of felled logs which are often infeasible. In addition to sizable foregone revenues for the Government, the undervaluation of the resource and the absence of effective monitoring result in wasteful and environmentally damaging forestry practices. The combined effect of destructive logging practices and burning and clearance for the expansion of agriculture is that an apparently renewable resource may prove to be non-renewable, entailing irreversible loss of bio-diversity, of habitat for forest dwellers, and of an exploitable economic resource capable of contributing to the growth of industry and exports. Source: World Bank 1991b. 5.9. Local groups and communities have always considered the forest as belonging to them, and they still do. Since the communities are physically present in the locality, no "stranger" (see para. 5.20 below) can just clear an unoccupied portion of the forest and claim it without seeking access rights from a member of the local community. Although unwritten, these customary law claims to ownership are clearly ascertainable at the local level. A new forestry law was promulgated in January 1994. The new forest policy and law are based on the premise that Cameroon's forest resources represent a unique natural resource that has been exploited in an unsustainable way in the past. The policy explicitly recognizes the richness and importance of Cameroon's biodiversity and assigns a high priority to protection of this patrimony. Under the law, the Government (MINEF) is obliged to provide technical assistance to communities in development of management plans for community forests and to monitor their implementation (World Bank 1994e). The Infrastructure Dilemma 5.10. An adequate road network plays a key role in support of agricultural development, food marketing, forest exploitation, decentralization of economic management across the country, in addition to facilitating the movement of consumer goods into rural areas, and facilitating access to public services, notably extension, health and education (World Bank 1993a). In Cameroon, the overall rural road network, estimated at about 23,000km, of which about 11,500 are classified feeder roads, is inadequate and poorly maintained, with conditions varying widely across regions (World Bank 1991e). Many roads are impassable during the rainy season and require extensive rehabilitation. The feeder road network in the Western Highlands region faces greater requirements due to the large movement of food crops to Yaounde, Douala, and the towns in the Western Highlands. This region is the main producer of coffee and feeder roads serve the export of coffee and the provision of fertilizer and other inputs for associated economic activities. In the North and the Far North provinces, the main flows are sorghum and millet into Garoua. 5.11. In poor rural areas, fuelwood, water, and small quantities of produce for nearby markets are transported on foot, mostly by women. Few small farmers own or operate trucks or automobiles, and even these are among the better-off. According to a USAID survey in 1984, 66 only 25% of farms owned some type of transport such as bicycles, carts, or motor vehicles in a regionally diverse pattern. About 70% of the bicycles, for example, were found in farms in the Far North, North, and West provinces, which provide the best terrain and the best year-round road conditions for bicycle use. For settlements entirely lacking feeder roads, small quantities of staple food products are head-loaded by women to nearby markets. The lack of adequate transport infrastructure in the rural areas of Cameroon is a major contributing factor to the excess burden on women's time and energy, given women's central role in rural transportation, inducing a vicious cycle of negative impacts on natural resources, women's lives, and society's well being. 5.12. When not accompanied by appropriate management and safeguards, infrastructure development, for all its economic benefits, can also be an important factor in accelerating forest degradation and depletion, and loss of biodiversity. Logging roads are a good example, as they often open up intact forest areas and induce settlement and exploitation of resources in areas close to the roads. Ease of access to forests also poses a greater threat to wildlife and biodiversity, especially when mechanisms for coping with the economic crisis include greater reliance on hunting and poaching to earn cash. In some areas, population pressure, combined with improved market access, has led to a more intensive farming system without the traditional fallow periods used to restore soil productivity. The result is that crop yields are poor and natural forest is being rapidly cleared, including on steep and highly erodible slopes, to augment impoverished farm land. IIM. Land Tenure: ownership and Use RijhtS The 1974 Land Tenure Framework 5.13. A common feature that the centralized land tenure system in Cameroon shares with other French-speaking states is the emphasis on ownership. Recognition of ownership rights is encoded in the 1974 Land Ordinances and the more than 50 subsequent enabling acts and amendments which constitute the legal framework for tenure administration in Cameroon. This centralized system is based on the premise that law-making could be used as an instrument to paper over regional and ethnic differences and to further "nation-building." Instead of building on the cultural diversity which brings with it many different customary laws and practices, the parliament sought to convert customary rights into statutory rights. In 1974, it enacted the land reform legislation which is contained in three ordinances establishing rules governing land tenure, state lands, and expropriation. Policy makers reasoned that by providing a single national land tenure code, the political objective of national integration could be furthered, as, like the Penal and Labor Codes, the land law was enacted to transcend the historical legacies of English and French colonial rule. A further objective of the 1974 land tenure code was to undertake a form of social engineering aimed at encouraging the transformation of "traditional" practices in land holding and cultivation to what policy makers conceptualized as modern medium- and large-scale agro-industrial plantations. 5.14. Ownership is used here in contrast to land use rights or usufructs which, though ascertainable, are not legally protected and are limited in time. This distinction is relevant because the 1974 land legislation adopted registration of title and the issuance of a land certificate as the primary basis for establishing ownership. The crucial question which the 1974 law does not address is the linkage between beneficiary (or users') rights and ownership rights. In addition to the recognition of ownership rights, how can the law guarantee to poor families 67 and other beneficiaries the required "security of tenure" which could lead to sustainable management of the resource base? 5.15. A key shortcoming of the land legislation is that it operates as though in a social space that has never known any law. Even if the existence of some customary laws is acknowledged, "modern" law assumes that these will simply disappear. This has not been the case in Cameroon. Empirical data suggest that customary laws and practices have not just withered away and left some vacuum for state law to fill (Fisiy 1992). They definitely compete with state law to regulate social interactions.3 From a poverty reduction perspective, it is important to examine the ways in which the land tenure system affects those who are marginal and disenfranchised, i.e., those social, gender, and cultural categories which are most likely to fall through the cracks of the tenure system during implementation, if its focus is on ownership rights. This concerns primarily women who, in most cultures, only enjoy land use rights, and some "marginalized" cultural and ethnic minorities. 5.16. The crucial question is to determine the type of tenure reform that is needed. Available empirical data point strongly to the emergence of a land market in urban and peri-urban areas of Cameroon. With the growing privatization of family land holdings, the critical issue for poverty reduction is to ensure that the rural population maintain access to usufructs which they require to sustain their livelihoods. The question is no longer whether the emerging land markets can be reversed, but how to build into the land management system flexible tenure arrangements that include recognition and validation of users' rights and which do not necessarily confer ownership title on them. This should allow for the coexistence of state law and customary law arrangements in regulating land tenure issues. 5.17. In principle, the 1974 land law in Cameroon was expected to facilitate the recognition and transformation of customary title to statutory title. What the law did not address is how people acquire customary titles. Evidence from the literature and empirical data support the view that access rights to land are determined by status under customary law (Berry, 1988, 1993; Bruce, 1988, 1993). Having access to land is not a function of registration of title; the beneficiary enjoys land rights either as a member of the community, or as its client. Registration of title only comes after an acquired social right and should serve as documentary evidence of the existence of such a right. Indeed, the land law stipulates that statutory title can only be conferred on those who already have customary title to the land, which excludes those defined above as disenfranchised. The Social Nexus 5.18. What emerges from implementation of the Cameroon land tenure law is that the educated elite is demanding that family land be divided, so that they can receive, and register, their share. The quest for individual holdings has led to the fragmentation of family land which could lead to eventual land concentration in the hands of a few farmers if procedures for land consolidation are also put in place. In its present form, land registration is leading to a situation where those who do not need the land for their livelihood are the ones who register their shares. Rather than see land as a source of livelihood, they want to hold the land as absentee landlords 3 For a broader analysis of the relationship between customary and "modem" law, in particular as this affects the legal status of women in Sub-Saharan Africa, see Martin and Hashi 1992. 68 for future use. This pattern of land holding creates further scarcity for rural people (Box 5.4). Empirical data in most parts of Cameroon, especially among the Bamil&e of the Western Grassfields suggest that when residents lose their land or cannot gain access to land, they are most likely to migrate to other areas in search of better opportunities (Dongmo 1981). Consequently, if tenure policies lead to landlessness for some groups of people, this is tantamount to cutting off the source of livelihood for the rural poor. Furthermore, exactly what the migration patterns are has implications for land use and environmental degradation elsewhere. Box 5.4: Who Gets the Land? Empirical findings in the North West and South West provinces of Cameroon show that over 50% of those who registered land within the first 10 years of land registration (1974-1985) were classified as public servants. The second group were business operators accounting for over 32% of all land titles issued. Although some 65% of Cameroonians were considered as living in rural areas, only 5% of those who obtained land certificates were classified as farmers. It is even more striking that women who make up more than 51% of the population and who undertake more than 75% of all agricultural work in Cameroon were virtually absent from the land registers. Only 3.2% of registered titles were issued to women in the North West Province, representing barely 0.1I% of the registered land mass. In the South West Province, the percentage of titles issued to women rose to 7.2% for a total registered land mass of 1.8%. This pattern is similar in other parts of the country, and suggests that in the best of situations less than 10%/a of those who obtained land certificates were women. Source: Fisiy 1992. 5.19. In most local communities, land represents much more than an economic factor of production, and the attachment of rural populations to their land, no matter how fragmented, is the primary basis underpinning their social status. Take away their land and they are deprived of an essential feature of being and belonging, and their primary source of livelihood is removed. This stems from the perception that land constitutes the link between the living and the dead. It is by pouring a libation on the land, especially on the graves of the ancestors, that the living enter into communication with the spirits of the ancestors and the deities of the land. Similarly, the land is perceived in some Cameroonian cultures as the medium through which justice is rendered, hence the expression the "earth will give judgment" (Goheen 1989). In this sense, the idea that land is the primary source of livelihood contains both a spiritual nexus of being a member of a group through attachment to ancestors, and a material component of being able to live on the product of the land. 5.20. It is critical to understand the changing constructions of social status as the primary determinant for the beneficiary classification of "belonging" to the community or of being a "stranger." Even though national laws and policies declare that all Cameroonians are free to settle on any part of the national territory, local constructions of identities differentiate between indigenous groups and strangers. This distinction takes on new meaning when resources become scarce, as a more restrictive definition of the terms of access to resources tends to exclude those beneficiaries who are seen as strangers. In the context of growing land scarcity, the boundaries of exclusion are further rigidified by this distinction, which determines who will enjoy "user rights" by virtue of group membership and who has to pay for them. Given the fact that Cameroon has more than 200 ethnic groups, the distinction is significant in determining the exclusionary patterns of land tenure under customary laws and practices. 69 5.21. In most cultural contexts in Cameroon, women are treated as dependents and they acquire their usufructs not as owners of land but as wives and daughters of men, who, de jure, own the land. This is the basis on which access rights to land and inheritance are determined in most patriarchal societies. Furthermore, as an extension of patriarchy, virilocality excludes women from acquiring ownership interests in land except when they head households within their families of birth. Since the concept of marrying outside one's kin group precludes women from inheriting land, they have no customary rights to transform into statutory titles. Indeed, the situation of married women, who through this practice are perceived as "strangers" in their husbands' families, in the sense defined above, is both ambivalent and fluid, because of the instability of marriage (Geschiere 1985). Poor women, who constitute the weakest political pressure group, are pushed to more marginal and degraded lands, which can hardly sustain their livelihood. This complex of issues is illustrated in the North West Province (Box S.5). 5.22. Recognition of user rights, even though these might fall short of full ownership, is an acknowledgment of the role customary tenure arrangements play in ensuring access rights to non-owning beneficiaries. These are flexible arrangements which blend social status with other market and social processes. It is precisely because these local arrangements are flexible and amenable to change that they are characterized as uncertain. Policy makers usually think these arrangements should be made ascertainable through codification. The legal framework for dealing with the land question tends to aggravate existing systemic inequalities in the redistribution of wealth in Cameroon. Through policies which might lead to the consolidation of land in the hands of rich farmers, urban real estate developers and speculators, the land tenure system is at present not addressing the needs of the poor. 5.23. As land is becoming more of a marketable commodity, especially in urban and peri- urban areas, it is important to understand the impact of market forces on the poor. A possible consequence of the policy option that advocates individual land holdings is that this undermines social safety nets which are anchored primarily on communal and community ties. The impact of the fragmentation and individualization of family land holdings is felt through the rupture of family solidarity and the emerging reliance on the nuclear family as a unit of production and consumption. This pattem strikes at the very core of customary arrangements for supporting the poor and other disabled members of the family, and has immediate consequences for social safety nets based on community support systems. The more affluent members of the family can easily shake off their traditional responsibility towards their poor kin. This would be less of a problem if altemative institutional arrangements, such as social welfare payments, were put in place to provide assistance to the poor, but this is not at present the case in Cameroon. The poor are seeing the collapse of customary support systems while no altemative seems to be taking its place. 70 Box 5.5: Women and Land in Nso, North West Province It is unsettling and ironic that national economic and agricultural policy favors elite farmers at the expense of small rural producers, the majority of whom are women. Land issues loom large since guaranteed access to land is essential to the ability of rural subsistence farmers to continue to feed the household. Land is increasingly scarce and expensive, especially accessible arable land, much to the dismay of Nso farmers who consider access to land to be a right of citizenship. In Nso, there is uneasiness that the cornmoditization of land and escalating prices will lead to the "imarginalization" if not outright disenfranchisement of small rural producers. Since women are viewed as competent to manage the crops but not to own the fields, the trend toward privatization has undermined women's secure rights of usufruct under the traditional tenure scheme. The 1974 land ordinances, though expressly instituted to clarify land use rights and give small farmers security of tenure so as to encourage expansion, have instead, by virtue of their ambiguous content and relationship to customary tenure, created increasing stratification between uneducated village farmers and the better-educated rich farmers. Disturbingly, the practices of these new elites reduce the amount of land available to smallholders and limit the amount of capital invested in food production. Source: Adapted from Goheen, in Gladwin 1991. 5.24. The production decisions farmers make determine the appropriate type of tenure regime they should seek access to, and the type of investment they should engage in. When the intemational export crop market collapsed, most agricultural production was targeted at local and regional markets. In agrarian communities, production shifted significantly to the food sector. Since smallholder food producers still adhere to patterns of shifting cultivation, albeit with shorter fallow periods, merely having usufruct over a piece of land is good enough for production purposes. It is also easier for a customary landlord to grant usufruct rights, with the assurance that the land will revert to the land owning family during the fallow period (Box 5.6), though this too may be a key contributing factor to shortening fallow periods. Box 5.66: Conflict between Desirable Objectives. A GTZ rural development project sought to "sedentarize' shifting cultivators in the North West by introducing leguminous tree cover for soil stabilization, fertility, and regeneration. In the peri-urban areas of Bamenda where land has become quite scarce and most women now rent land for food production, the landlords in the experimentation zone sensed the possibility of losing the reversionary nature of usufructs, and promptly served notice threatening to evict those farmers who planted trees on their farms. According to local perceptions, this systematic planting of trees was immediately interpreted as a breach of usufruct rights because it laid the basis for an ownership claim. Just as the introduction of coffee had led to permanent alienation of land, so too this new effort to sedentarize shifting cultivation could lead to the loss of family lands. In this case, the beneficiaries had access to usufructs on terms which did not provide for permanent alienation, as the tree planting suggested. Moreover, local landlords know the commercial value of their land because they are active participants in the emerging land markets and they are also well aware of the scarcity of land in their localities. The measures they took to safeguard the land were not unusual in the locality. This case nonetheless raises the vexing question of how to reconcile the preferences for flexibility in use rights (which do not change the nature of claims on land) with the need for longer-term, stable investment, which tree planting represents, to strengthen the productive capacity of the land over time. 71 IV. ConclOsion Environment 5.25. Cameroon needs to revisit its development policy priorities with respect to the environmental issues which interact with poverty. Key among them are: + Deforestation. Rapid deforestation persists in Cameroon. Fuelwood accounts for a large share of all energy used; as it becomes scarcer and more costly, women, who have principal responsibility for fetching fuelwood, bear the additional burden. Commercial logging, and the attendant opening up of forests to agricultural exploitation, is a significant factor. 4 Loss of Biodiversity. The rapid loss of Cameroon's exceptional endowment of biodiversity is a particularly acute problem. Tropical forests are ecosystems supporting high biodiversity-loss of forests is therefore important from this perspective. Increased wildlife poaching is an important contributor to loss of biodiversity. Given the multiple benefits of biodiversity (agriculture, industry, medicine) a people-centered approach to offset loss of biodiversity requires local-level empowerment of communities in policy and program design and implementation. v Water Resource Management. There is scope for considerable improvement in access to clean, potable water and adequate sanitation. Greater scarcity of water places additional burdens on the time and energy of women who travel longer distances to obtain it, an especially acute problem in the more arid north of the country (Chapter 3). 4 Transport infrastructure. The lack of appropriate transport infrastructure in rural areas limits access to markets and to public services, thus diminishing economic development and potential. Access to basic transport infrastructure is highlighted by the poor (Chapter 3) as one of their principal concerns. The imperative of developing adequate transport infrastructure does not need to be accompanied by environmental degradation and vulnerability, but this requires adequate management and safeguards. Women are key actors in rural transportation, transporting water, firewood, and produce to and from the market. 4 Urbanization. The rapid rate of urban growth in Cameroon has brought with it acute environmental problems: expanding squatter settlements, pollution, water depletion and contamination, lack of infrastructure and inadequate maintenance, and the growing demands of transportation. The numbers of urban poor are also expanding rapidly. Land Tenure 5.26. The striking feature of land tenure administration in Cameroon is the persistence of multiple administrative and regulatory systems. The 1974 land law, which promotes land registration, co-exists with a wide array of customary laws and practices, based on a mixture of ownership and user rights determined by status, absorbing market principles in an unstructured manner. With the existence of multiple institutional frameworks addressing different aspects of the land question, it becomes very difficult to establish any form of accountability. People 72 negotiate and acquire their rights in one system (customary law) and validate these rights in another (state law). In this manner, people use the law as a resource for staking their claims. This can have a negative impact on the poor, who in most cases have not been empowered by any of the competing institutional arrangements to enhance their livelihood. Tensions have been exacerbated by the conflicting agendas of biodiversity and wildlife protection agencies, Government forest officials, and other environmental advocates, all seeking to influence the demarcation of boundaries for different uses of land. What emerges from all these conflicts is a patchwork of competing demands and institutional claims for management and control of arable, pastoral, and protected lands. 5.27. With multiple institutional arrangements on tenure matters, there are different hierarchies of rights to land. Under customary law, those whose beneficial interests are limited to usufructs soon realize that these usufructs have been appropriated by more powerful owners. The rapid accumulation of land among the elite is producing a new structure of social stratification, not based on hereditary and cultural values, but on the manipulation of different institutional prerogatives. Empirical data establish that members of the elite have acquired and registered large amounts of family land which they hold as absentee landlords. Effective access to usable land has become much more limited to those, such as women, who hold precarious use rights as they struggle to sustain the livelihoods of their families. They are becoming more vulnerable to landlessness. The poverty and environmental implications of these changing patterns are significant. The rural poor who rely on the land for their livelihood are not the ones who register their legal rights. If this trend continues unchecked, Cameroon might end up in a situation analogous to some parts of Asia and Latin America, where being landless becomes the common plight and defining characteristic of the rural poor. This would in turn require new policies to settle the landless on their former ancestral grounds, if poverty reduction is to become an important concern of the Government. 5.28. The evidence presented here suggests that the 1974 land reforms did not adequately address the question of user rights, which diminishes the possibility of providing within the statutory framework practical arrangements for addressing the different needs of beneficiaries. Beneficiaries of use rights are vulnerable in that they are caught between different land tenure systems, none of which, in the present context, can guarantee their long-term user rights. Box 5.6 illustrates the dilemma: long-term investment in the land is likely to be interpreted as a breach of customary tenure arrangements. Even though customary tenure systems are much more responsive to user rights, the increasing practice of selling land is changing the prevailing patterns of access rights. 5.29. In Camneroon, the thought of becoming landless is not only frightening in that it cuts off a person's primary source of livelihood, it also further severs the social nexus that anchors individuals to a given community. Since the earth is perceived in most Cameroonian communities as the interface between the living and the dead, becoming landless means losing the bonds which link individuals with their ancestors. When such bonds are severed, most people see migration as the only solution, as this allows them to construct a new identity in some "foreign" land. The growing market for usable land in rural areas is one of the contributing factors for migration to urban areas. 6 HUman Resources: The NeXus of Health, Education and Employment I. introduction 6.1. This chapter summarizes the complex of issues linking human resource development and employment in Cameroon, and their relevance for poverty reduction. It focuses in particular on the daunting challenge of employment and labor absorption, since, for the poor, the greatest impact of economic policies and trends is generally felt in the labor market. In this respect, demographic factors play an important part and Part II provides a brief review of the demographic situation in Caineroon. Parts III and IV briefly review the status of health and education in the country, and Part V analyzes recent trends in employment and the labor market. Overall, Cameroon has been described as a country which is "weak" in human development terms, and which, though a middle-income country alongside C6te d'Ivoire and Gabon, remains below the SSA average for human development. Cameroon's human development index (HDI) has fallen from 0.474 in 1990 to 0.313 in 1992 (UNDP 1993). II. Demograghic Dyuamics 6.2. The population of Cameroon is estimated at 12.0 million (1993) (52% female and 48% male). I Rural areas account for about 65% of the total population, and urban areas 35%. Women do not outnumber men in all age cohorts, as important movements occur in the gender structure of the population. Women are the majority of the population aged 15-34. In rural areas, women represent 52-56% of the total population. While overall population density remains low (25 people per km2 in 1992), the population is very unevenly distributed in the country, and not always related to agricultural potential, as 70% of the population occupy 30% of the country's habitable land. Population densities vary from less than 10/km2 in the East, South, and Adamaoua Provinces, through 15-40/km2 in the Center, South West and North Provinces, to 60- 100/km2 in the Far North, North West, West, and Coastal Provinces (UNDP 1993). 6.3. A critical demographic phenomenon is the age structure of the population. According to data from the DHS, more than 30% of the total population of Cameroon is under age 10, and nearly 60% is under 20. These ratios are both higher in rural areas. The demographic pressure resulting from the youth of the Cameroonian population represents a significant challenge for all economic and social services, notably schooling, health, and employment. The age structure of the Cameroonian population is presented graphically in Figure 6.1. The sections on population and health arc drawn in part from World Bank 1994b. 74 6.4. If current demographic indicators remain constant, Cameroon's population will Figure 6.1 Age Structure ofthe reach 15.5 million by the year 2000 and 21 Population, 1991 million by the year 2010. If mortality rates continue to decline and emphasis is not placed on reducing fertility, Cameroon's 60-64 population will double every 22 years, with 50-54 corresponding increases in the demand for 044Male social services, including health and 3034 education (World Bank 1994b). 20-24 10-14- 6.5. Internal migration has also played a 0-4 role in shaping economic opportunity and environmental risk. Until recently, there had 0 10 20 been some desirable inter-provincial Percent of Total (By Sex) migration from the Far North to the North and Adamaoua Provinces (about 120,000 to 150,000 people), releasing pressure on the low-productivity resource base of the Far North. Traditionally, there has also been a pattern of rural-to-urban migration where young people go to the city to escape the hardships of rural life. With the onset of the current economic crisis, the reverse seems to have taken place, though trends are unclear, as some urban dwellers have returned to farming or taken up alternative activities in rural areas, such as hunting or animal raising. 6.6. A national population policy was formulated and published in March 1993, which authorizes all health centers and hospitals to provide family planning services. The policy considers family planning as part of an overall strategy to improve the well-being of families and couples in general and of women and children in particular. Among a wide range of actions, the policy seeks to: (a) facilitate access to voluntary family planning services, especially in rural and peri-urban areas; (b) ensure availability of information and educational programs concerning contraceptive methods (modern, natural and traditional), STDs (including AIDS), and causes of sterility; (c) promote responsible parenthood through educational efforts; (d) strengthen girls' education to increase levels of education and age at first marriage; and (e) improve research and coordination to ensure efficient implementation of the policy and increased participation of the entire population. The new policy provides an important framework for action, but much remains to be done to address population growth. Attitudes towards family planning are generally favorable and demand for family planning services is increasing, but the availability of accurate information and adequate services remains a major problem. Ill. HCalth 6.7. Despite its middle-income status, Cameroon's health indicators resemble those of low- income countries in SSA. Malaria, intestinal parasites, skin diseases, and respiratory infections comprise almost 75% of morbidity; malaria and anemias account for almost 50% of mortality, with respiratory infections, neonatal tetanus, and malnutrition adding an additional 25%. A high maternal mortality rate, estimated at 430 per 100,000 live births, indicates the precarious health situation of women of childbearing age. Provincial level data on maternal mortality range from 75 900 per 100,000 live births in Maroua (Far North) to 250 per 100,000 live births in Bamenda (North West province). 6.8. The 1991 CDHS found that women give birth to an average of 5.8 children during their lifetimes, which represents a 10% decline since 1978. This masks a significant urban/rural differ- ential: average parity for women in Yaounde and Douala is estimated at 4.4 children, while for rural women it is 6.3. Knowledge of modern methods of contraception has increased from 29% to 66% of women in union during the period 1978-1991, but only 4.3% of these women were using such a method. For 21% of births between 1986 and 1991, no medical personnel were consulted. More than one-third of births took place outside a health facility, and in 36% of cases there was no medical assistance. 6.9. Children under 5 are at a significant health risk in Cameroon. The infant mortality rate is estimated at 65 per 1,000 live births and the under 5 mortality rate is 126 per 1,000 live births. Only 41% of children with fever and 50% of children with diarrhea were taken to a health facility for treatment. In 1991, total vaccination coverage of children I to 2 years old was only 41% (CDHS 1991). At least I in 5 had not had any vaccinations. (Annex I Tables 8 and 9). 6.10. HI V/AIDS is a health risk throughout Cameroon, including in rural Figure 6.2: Changes in Pre'qlence of HIV areas. Of the 2,488 AIDS cases reported Among Pregnant Women 1989-92 from 1985 to June 30, 1993, 70% are in individuals aged 20- 39, and about 5% are among children under 5. About 80,000 to 100,000 people, about 2% of the sexually 5 active urban population, are estimated to be 4 1989 HIV positive. Prevalence rates vary by risk group and by province. For example, as C3 1990 shown in Figure 6.2, the percentage of 2 1991 pregnant women in Yaounde who are HIV 0.1 1992 positive doubled from 0.9% in 1989 to 1991 2.0% in 1992. Similar increases were 0 l l l observed in other cities: Bamenda: from D D a 0.5% in 1989 to 4.1% in 1992. Kumba: E E 5 a 0.5% in 1989 to 1.1% in 1992; Limbe: 1.0% in 1989 to 2.9% in 1992 (U.S. Bureau Cities of the Census 1993). Projections for AIDS in Cameroon show that the disease will become increasingly prevalent in the next decade. By the year 2005, it is expected that there will be between 140,000 and 220,000 seropositive individuals and between 10,000 and 14,000 new cases of AIDS (World Bank 1994b). 6.11. A high correlation exists between health service use and the socio-economic, regional, and employment classification of households developed in Chapter 2. Urbanization increases the likelihood that health needs will be met. Analysis by region of use of services ties YaoundelDouala and the North West/South West region at the top of the scale, with the northern region at the bottom, and the West/Coastal and Center/South/East regions in the middle. The difference between mothers who had no schooling and those who had been to secondary school and beyond is pronounced. While 98% of mothers who had completed secondary education received ante-natal care, only 57% of mothers with no schooling did so. Vaccination coverage 76 for children under 5 without any vaccinations between 1986 and 1991 vary from less than 10% in Yaound6/Douala to 35.0% in the greater north. The problem of regional disparity in access to health care, which is the result of a policy of cumulative neglect, is reflected in the distribution of health sector personnel by province in relation to population (Figure 6.3). Figure 63: Cameroon: Distribution of Health Personnel and Population by Province, 1989 20 15 0 ADAMAOUA CENTS EAST FAR NCRTH COQSTAL NOTH NCRTH;T 1^EST SOUTH SOJTH%WT 10%POPULATION *%MEDICALPERSONNEL| IV. Education and schooling 6.12. The fifteen years to about 1987 have seen an impressive Table 6.1 increase in schooling levels in Cameroon. Between 1976 and Percent of Youth 15-24 1987, illiteracy among those 11 years and older fell from 53% to without Schooling, 1987 41%, while the enrollment rate for the 6-14 age group rose from Girls Boys 67% to 73%. This has helped to reduce both male/female and Urban 15% 8% urban/rural disparities, though significant differences persist Rural 46% 29% (Table 6.1). Gender-differentiated education performance Total 32% 18% indicators are presented in Annex I Table 10). Source: RGPH(1987) 6.13. Regional differences in access to schooling are significant. Adult illiteracy ranges from less than 20% in the Littoral, South, and Center provinces, through 30%-45% in the South West, West, East and Adamaoua provinces, up to about 70% in the North and Far North (Map 6.1). The latter two provinces also have the lowest school attendance rates, regardless of sex or age group, as fewer than half of children aged 6-14 attended school in 1987, as against 90% in the Littoral, South, West, and Center provinces. Attendance rates in the other provinces are between 50% and 70%. Trends in educational enrollments since 1987 are unclear, though there are some indications that school attendance is declining in response to the crisis. The tenuous links between education and employment (the subject of Part V below) are also an issue. In Yaounde, in 1993, 7% of children age 6 to 9 did not attend school, compared with 3% in 1983 (Roubaud 1993). 77 Map 6.1 Cameroon Illiteracy Rates by Province Adults Aged 11 or More Map Features . -- lntIfnfatol Boundarnes - Mao Rv . . ._ NOFARNOTHJ . . . . . . *- .\ Natonal Capitl * Prm.nce Captal Nlilteracy Rates (Percent) E 10% and Less L.- 11 to 25% % [23 26 to 40% 41 to 55% ;P 56 to 70% 71% and More -. .: ... . - .. - -- - r ~ ~~~~~~~~'- NORTH-WEST . The boundaries, colom denominatiors and anty other indofonntion shown on this map do not imply, an the part of the -,WEST ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~World Bank Group, anfy judgment on the lega s.au of any ter.trMy, or an SOUTH9 -WEST ''d0 | O 50 boundares. 4 '-.:-CENT Bertoua Dual Ebolowa. ~ ~ ~ ~ AS 78 6.14. The gender gap in education widens from one level to the next. In the 1985-90 period, female participation ranged from about 46% of students at the primary level to about 25% at university level and 17% in tertiary technical colleges. These aggregates also mask wide regional disparities in female participation. In 1990, the level of female participation in primary education in Adamaoua, North and Far North was 38%, 33% and 31% respectively, well below the national average of 47% (Monkam et al. 1992). Girls' education is constrained by the high direct and opportunity costs of schooling. Cultural practices and customs such as polygamy, bride-wealth and early marriage, also reinforce the low level of female participation. V. EmNYyment 6.15. The labor market in Yaounde has deteriorated markedly over the last ten years in response to a dual trend: + labor supply at the household level continues to increase rapidly in volume and quality (skill level); + labor demand, and in particular formal sector demand, is stagnant or even declining in some sectors. These divergent trends have led to an explosive escalation of labor market imbalances and tensions. Labor Market Trends: Where Are They Leading? 6.16. Long-Term Labor Supply Growth. To understand the dynamics of long-term labor supply trends, it is helpful to go back an extended period. At the national level, the broad picture that emerges from the data is of a highly mobile population taking on an increasingly urban character. Labor supply, driven by demographic pressures rose rapidly, especially in urban areas. Tlhe population aged 15-64 grew by 30% from 4.1 million to 5.3 million between 1976 and 1987, while the proportion of economically active population in this age group dropped marginally from 66.3% to 65.7% (Table 6.2) Within this overall picture, three features stand out: (i) a substantial increase in the recorded participation rate of rural women; (ii) the low activity rate of urban women; and (iii) a major drop in the recorded participation rate of urban men. In parallel with the growth in the labor force, there was also a steady improvement in its quality, based on measures of literacy and average levels of education. For example, the literacy rate rose from 47.4% in 1976 to 59.5% in 1987. Table 6.2 Labor Force Participation Rates Rural Urban Cameroon 1976 1987 1976 1987 1976 1987 Male 86.9% 86.2% 79.7% 76.4% 84.6% 81.9% Female 56.6% 61.6% 31.4% 33.4% 50.0% 51.4% Both Sexes 70.2% 72.4% 56.7% 55.6% 66.3% 65.7% 79 6.17. For the period since 1987, information on aggregate labor supply is not available, but the basic demographic forces have continued, suggesting further strong growth of labor supply. Moreover, there was a rise in the school enrollment rate among 6-14 year old children from 67.5% to 73.1% between the 1976 and 1987 censuses, and the impact of this increase in education is certainly being reflected in further improvements in the quality of the labor supply. 6.18. Labor Demand. Trends in aggregate labor demand are less directly measurable, but are nonetheless clear. All major components of demand for goods and services-consumption, investment, exports-have contracted sharply since 1985, and this has translated into lower derived demand for labor. On a sectoral basis, the decline in demand has been greatest for tradable goods-manufacturing and export agriculture-while less severe reductions have occurred for non-tradable products, including some basic foods, petty commerce, and administrative services. 6.19. Available figures for employment illustrate the slow growth in demand for labor in the formal sectors. Annual surveys of wages and employment in a sample of private manufacturing enterprises, conducted from 1983/84 to 1990/91, record a 7% drop in employment over the period. Employment in the 12 main public enterprises declined by 15% over the 1986/87 - 1991/92 period. Given the difficulty for employers of reducing their labor force, new hiring has been extremely limited, the labor force reductions have often occurred through a process of attrition. In parallel, there have also been mass lay-offs in some enterprises, especially in recent years, as a result of bankruptcies and plant closures. In terms of numbers employed, the only sector of the economy that grew during the period was the public administration, which expanded by about 10% during the 1985/86-1991/92 period. Expansion of public employment absorbed only a minute fraction of new labor force entrants, and in any case has proven to be fiscally unsustainable. Labor Markets Under Stress Box 6.1: Labor Market Conditions in Yaoundi 6.20. The Emergence of Unemployment. Sharply diverging trends in labor supply and demand The soaring unemployment rate is the primary have led to a large increase in unemployment which indicator of the difficulties Cameroonians stood at about 7% in 1983. A 1993 study of the labor market in Yaounde provides a grim view of face trying to enter the labor market (Box contemporary urban labor market conditions. Open 6.1). Over a period of ten years this rate has unemployment was reported at close to 25% in 1993. If risen from 7.3% of the active population to discouraged workers are included, and allowance is made 24.6%. This explosion may in fact be even for underemployment, it is possible to calculate an unemployment/ underemployment rate as high as 67%. more pronounced, as the active population Whatever figure is accepted, it points to a collapse of was probably underestimated in the urban employment of catastrophic proportions. HBS(1983/84). Today, the urban Moreover, the 1993 survey preceded the November 1993 unemployment rate in Cameroon is one of the cuts in civil service salaries and the January 1994 highest in Africa and well above the rates devaluation, both of which have had a negative effect on recorded in Latin America and Asia (Lachaud employment opportunities in the short-term. 1993; Roubaud, forthcoming). If in 1983 economic activity ensured a globally satisfactory balance of labor supply and demand, today, unemployment, and more specifically the labor market entry of young job seekers, has become a problem which economic policy can no longer afford to ignore. 80 6.21. Age-specific unemployment rates reveal similar profiles at three points in time, but steadily increasing overall levels (Figure 6.4). Younger job seekers are the most vulnerable, with an unemployment rate for the 20 to 24 age bracket of over 40% in 1993. The unemployment rate dipped to under 10% for the over-30 age group prior to 1987-a level that is largely no longer attainable in 1993. Figure 6.4 Unemployement Rate by Age 1983-1993 45 40 35 *30 X U~25 20 b15° l0 01 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60 + --93: global --87: global 83: global Sources: HBS(1983); RGPH(1987); 1-2-3 Survey(1993), own estimates 6.22. The sharp rise in unemployment has been accompanied by a radical change in its nature. Ten years ago, and following developed country trends, those most vulnerable to unemployment were the least qualified. In 1983, unemployment decreased as a function of educational achievement. While unemployment affected 9.4% of those with no formal education, only 1.5% of individuals who had a university education were seeking a job. Demand for skilled labor, particularly in the public sector, was sufficient to absorb the growing numbers of university graduates. 6.23. Ten years on, in 1993, this unemployment logic has been inverted. Today, the unemployment rate increases with the level of education. Qualifications, which once served as a passport to escape unemployment, have now become a liability. Almost one-third of the active population who have attended university are currently seeking employment, while "only" 6.4% of those without an education are unemployed. While the education sysLtm has continued to enroll more young people and to produce more qualified graduates, the sources of employment for these graduates have been drying up (Table 6.3). Table 6.3 Unemployment Rate in Relation to Education Level 1983-93 Reversal of a Relatlonship No schooling Primary Secondary Post-secondary TOTAL 1983 9.4 8.4 5.2 1.5 7.3 1987 9.4 14.9 16.5 9.4 14.7 1993 6.5 23.8 26.7 30.9 24.6 Sources: HBS(1983), RGPH(1987), 1-2-3 Survey (1993), own estimates. 81 The Informalization of the Economy 6.24. A second indicator of labor market stress is the massive regression in salaried employment. The proportion of salaried workers among the employed active population was over 65% in 1983, and was still at 63% in 1987, but fell to under 50% in 1993. This difference is even greater when the number of salaried workers in relation to the total active population (61% and 37% in 1983 and 1993, respectively) is examined. This process of marginalization of the number of salaried to total workers is a good indicator of the increasing weight of the informal sector in the Cameroonian economy. As the economic crisis worsens, this sector is becoming the chief provider of jobs. In 1992, more than four in five jobs created were in the informal sector (DLAL/DSCN 1993). 6.25. The decline in salaried employment is pervasive. It affects men and women, young and old-all household members regardless of education level (Table 6.4). Only uneducated labor retains a constant share of salaried employment at slightly under 30%. Salaried employment is still positively related to academic qualifications but at a much lower level. While salaried employment absorbed almost all university attendees in 1983, now no more than 53% of these managed to obtain a salaried position (31% are unemployed and 16% are self-employed, apprentices or home help). Yet the education system still trains manpower for salaried employment, and this further contributes to the growing gap between the supply of the education sector and labor market demand. This gap is both quantitative-graduates are no longer able to find jobs-and qualitative-there is a very poor fit in terms of skills and degrees between qualifications generated by schools and the skills required in the current job market structure. Table 6.4 Salaried Employment in Relation to Education Level 1983-1993: An overall regression No schooling Primary Secondary Post-secondary TOTAL 1983 27.4 61.1 78.6 96.9 65.4 1987 29.3 50.6 76.3 94.4 63.1 1993 29.0 32.0 55.2 77.3 48.9 Sources: HBS(1983), RGPH(1987), 1-2-3 Survey (1993), own estimates 6.26. The rapid "informalization" of the entire productive system is a result of two factors, which, in Yaounde, converge: a shift in jobs toward sectors which by nature are structurally less formal; and a process of inforinalization within each sector. Commerce is a case in point, as it is a growing source of employment (up from 20% to 28% of jobs in the 1983-93 period). This affects the overall informalization of employment as commerce has the lowest share of salaried workers. Within the sector, the salaried employment rate fell from 27% to 13% between 1987 and 1993. From a broader perspective, no sector (except for non-market services) is immune from the informalization of employment (Annex I Table 11). Responses to Labor Market Change: Mobilization of Family Labor 6.27. Individual responses to labor market changes arc mediated through the household, as household-level constraints are likely to influence individual decisions to enter the job market and which sectors to enter, and through strong labor market segmentation along gender lines. 82 The viability and even existence of a large number of informal activities depends on the family's ability to mobilize family labor that is poorly paid or not paid at all. Pursuit of education by children in poor families is dependent on being able to finance it, which entails increased labor market participation. Choices made at the household level become all the more important during periods of crisis. Faced with shrinking incomes, households are forced to restructure their combined productive effort to ensure their survival. To offset shrinking purchasing power, one of the main strategies available to households is to mobilize the household's available labor force. 6.28. The amount of family labor available in the labor market has increased considerably. The activity rate among "secondary" members of the household (i.e., other than the household head) increased from 16% to 33% between 1983 and 1993. Increased labor mobilization does not necessarily reflect easier access to employment, since the unemployment rate among "secondary" members has doubled in six years and quintupled in ten. The opportunities for working as an apprentice or family labor, which, in good times, tended to reduce the risk of unemployment, have dried up or have at least become insufficient to absorb all family labor-a further indicator of informal sector saturation. Rising unemployment in households whose head works in the informal sector also undoubtedly marks an increase in inequality because the income of these households is lower than that of households in the formal sector, and the income of unemployed/inactive households is lower still (Berthelier 1993). Salaried employment among "secondary" household labor is still falling. In 1993, it was 22% in the case of salaried household heads while only 9% in the case of household heads working in the informal sector (Annex I Table 12). Characteristics of Jobs held by Women and Youth 6.29. In 1987, women accounted for 42% of the work force in Cameroon (28% in urban areas), and there are important sectoral disparities. Construction, public works, transportation, and electricity, in particular, are not open to women. Women occupy fewer than one in four jobs in sectors other than agriculture and play an equal role with men in that sector. Compared with men, women are over-represented in agriculture: 85% of jobs held by women and 63% of jobs held by men are in agriculture. Irrespective of residence, women work primarily as family labor.2 Men predominate in all other employment categories. Young workers (under 25) account for one-quarter of the employed active population. They are often found in dependent jobs: they account for between 60% and 90% in this category of employment but for less than 17% in the self-employed and employer categories. 6.30. The place and role of women and youth have radically changed in the context of the recession. Women have taken the lead in the strategies adopted by households to fight against deteriorating living conditions, while young people have been the primary victims of the way in which the labor market has operated during the crisis. The absence of job opportunities for youth brings with it a real risk of generational breakdown. Particular attention must be given to the gulf between the social and occupational ambitions of Cameroon's youth and the real opportunities available to them. 2 Labor force data present a partial and misleading account of employment and labor allocation in that the definition of employment usually excludes productive work in the household sector. These data therefore significantly understate women's productive contribution to the economy. For an alternative approach, see World Bank 1993c. 83 The Major Contribution of Women (in Yaoundi) 6.31. While women's contribution to economic activity, particularly in rural areas, has long been underscored by researchers, rarely has it been carefully measured in cities.3 Women's entry into the labor market has become widespread over the past ten years, regardless of age group. In 1993, over 40% of the active population were women, who accounted for only 32% in 1983 (Figure 6.5). Because of the loss in income from the work of traditionally employed household members (men, household heads), the crisis has prompted some previously "inactive" women to seek employment in order to offset the financial losses incurred by the household. Figure 6.5 Level of Activity of Women by Age 1983-1993 i so 70 60 5 0 40 b30I 20 10 0 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60 + --93: women -U-m87: women -53: women Sources: HBS(1983), RGPH(1987), 1-2-3 Survey (1993), own estimates. 6.32. The type of job held by women is characterized by its severe precariousness. This structural trait has been accentuated over the past ten years. During this period women have entered the labor market on a large scale, even when demand for skilled and well-paid jobs in the modem sector has been slowing. Job creation trends clearly show the recent rise in prominence of women in the labor market. In 1992, 45% of the jobs created were filled by women, although women accounted for only 40% of the work force. Strong sectoral segmentation plays an important role. The public sector (the civil service and public enterprises combined), in particular, closes its doors to women. A policy of virtual discrimination against women seems to be in effect, since in the course of the last three years over 80% of the rare public sector jobs that have been created have been given to men. 6.33. The informal sector is the main provider of jobs for women and accounts for two-thirds of women's and one-half of men's employment. Women have shown a remarkable capacity for creating their own employment, and consequently for accepting more precarious employment conditions: self-employment, working at home without special facilities, improvised roadside stands, etc. The large-scale mobilization of women into the urban informal labor market, which is a key coping strategy during the crisis, does not necessarily result in an economic gain for 3 This and the following section are drawn from Roubaud 1993. 84 women. Apart from the precariousness of their jobs, the informal sector is characterized by lower levels of education, responsibility, and pay. Although the entry of women into the informal sector is necessitated by the contracting demand for labor in the formal sector, it also offers some advantages in connection with the household responsibilities they disproportionately bear. Informal activities, which are by nature more flexible, enable women to combine their household and occupational activities. The total workload of women, for whom the double workday is a burdensome reality, therefore becomes a binding constraint and critically defines their economic capacity and the differential incentives they face. Table 6.5 Weekly Hours Spent on Employment and Household Work Women's double workload Employment Household work Total Men Women Men Women Men Women Inactive 0 0 7 16 7 16 Unemployed 0 0 8 27 8 26 Active: 41 35 5 19 46 54 Salaried 42 37 4 17 46 54 Non-salaried 40 34 6 21 46 56 Source: 1-2-3 Survey (1993). 6.34. Table 6.S shows that the economic activity of women is far from marginal, as they work, on average, over 35 hours per week (41 in the case of men) and one in five employed women works more than 48 hours per week (compared to one in four men). Women's pay is, however, well below that earned by men. On average, they earn CFAF 63,000 per month while men earn CFAF 104,000. Allowing for differences in qualifications (educational and occupational), seniority, type ofjobs held (sub-sector, institutional sector, etc.) and hours worked, their earnings are still 17% lower than those of men (Roubaud 1993). The Burdens of Youth (in Yaounde') 6.35. In Yaounde, three in ten young (aged 10-29) job seekers in 1992 were unemployed, six moved into the informal sector, and only one successfully entered the modern sector (public or private). The disparity between rising qualification/skill levels and the stagnation of demand in the formal labor market can only exacerbate the frustration of the younger generations. Without satisfactory job prospects, these young job seekers are hardest hit by unemployment. 6.36. The economic crisis is the main factor forcing young people to seek jobs at an increasingly early age. In Western countries, which are also experiencing economic crises, increased school enrollment is accompanied by withdrawal from the labor market, but the reverse is the case in Yaounde (Dumartin et al. 1993). This reflects the difficulties households are facing in trying to make a living. Pursuit of two contradictory objectives-helping to maintain the household unit and achieving a better education level-is bound to be a source of stress for young people in their social and occupational life. The quality of education suffers from the pressure imposed by the need to earn income. The proportion of young people who concurrently attend school and work is increasing (Annex I Table 13). 85 6.37. Young people are increasingly dependent on their family. Lacking sufficiently well- paying jobs, young people live at home with their parents longer and postpone the establishment of their own households. (Annex I Table 14). In the 20-24 age group, only 11% of young people were household heads in 1993 compared to 18% in 1987. By contrast, the percentage of young people who continued to live with their parents rose from 15.5% to 23.7%. The same holds for the 25 to 29 age group, where the proportion of household heads fell six percentage points between 1987 and 1993, as the proportion of "children" who continued to live with their parents increased by five percentage points. This represents a significant trend of young people turning to their families, while the link between entry into the job market and establishing a household seems to be weakening. 6.38. If the past decade has been one of great difficulty for young people, as habitual modes of entry into the labor market have been called into question, these young people are likely to face even greater disillusionment in the near future. Employment prospects remain extremely bleak, and young people do not seem to have fully appreciated the measure and repercussions of recent labor market developments. Asked about their plans for the future, 80% of young people (15-29) want to change their status and get a new job. Among employed youth, job dissatisfaction is highest in the private (formal and informal) sector, and very few salaried young people in the public sector are interested in switching sectors (Annex I Table 15). 6.39. The marked preference among young people for secure jobs is evident from the type of job they are seeking. Almost 80% of them are seeking a salaried job, 40% a professional job, and more than 70% a job in the modem sector. More striking still is the fact that more than one in two young people would like to find ajob in the public sector. Table 6.6 illustrates the great divide between the preferences of young people and the real job opportunities available to them. Table 6.6 Job Creation and Job Plans of Young People Aged 15-29,1992 An Impossible Dream Public Public Formal Informal Total Administration enterprise private sector Sector Work plans for youths 45.0 9.2 23.8 22.0 100 Job creation for youths, 1992 2.4 1.1 13.2 83.3 100 Source: 1-2-3 Survey (1993), own estimates. 6.40. Young people continue to believe that obtaining a university degree will ineluctably lead to a civil service job. 70% of the young people in higher education express a preference for this type of job, and fewer than 15% envision the possibility of working in the informal sector. Young people in secondary education harbor the same illusions. It is hard to predict what will happen when these young people come to appreciate what really awaits them; adjustment to reality will certainly be bitter. The job plans that young people have show that no category considers the informal sector as offering a desirable future. Specifically, fewer than one in five young unemployed persons has plans to start up their own business. Labor Market Responses: Declining Real Wages 6.41. As a result of the growing imbalance between labor supply and demand since 1985, there has been a pronounced decline in real wages in all major sectors. This includes activities 86 where wages are freely determined by market mechanisms: all of the informal sector, agricultural wage labor and returns to labor in food crop agriculture and other own-account activities. There have also been declines in wages in activities where there is at least a partial influence from Government regulation or control, such as in setting producer prices for agricultural exports or public sector wages. In short, almost no activity has escaped market pressures. 4 Producer prices paid to farmers for coffee and cocoa were halved in nominal terms during the period, that for cotton was cut by one-third, resulting in lower returns to labor for those who continued to produce these commodities. 4 The food component of the consumer price index fell by 29% between 1984/85 and end 1993. As the labor content of food production and marketing is very high (above 80%), the decline in prices strongly suggests a compression of earnings of most participants in this activity. 4 Informal sector earnings fell even more rapidly than industrial wages (see below), though evidence is very fragmentary. Studies of the informal sector in Yaounde in 1978 presented evidence that the level of earnings in informal activities was approximately on a par with formal sector earnings at that time; in contrast, the early 1993 study of the informal sector in Yaounde identified a wide gap in earnings (Desol 1978; Nihan 1979). 4,> Industrial wages fell in real terms by over 25%, though they did rise in nominal tenrs. 6.42. Falling Informal Sector Earnings. The informal sector is where the urban poor derive the bulk of their livelihood. How well they fare in income terms is the outcome of a market that is quick to respond to market pressures, but unrelenting in its search to squeeze costs-labor costs included. Information on informal sector wages is sparse. The two studies in Yaounde in the late 1970s found that earnings in the fornal and informal sectors were broadly equivalent. The studies, which did not distinguish male or female workers/occupations, concluded that qualified informal sector workers generally could earn salaries in line with those of Grade III (skilled manual) workers in the private sector. The studies noted that there was a wide distribution of wages, with many workers-apprentices, family helpers and so on-earning lesser amounts. Many more menial occupations were also excluded-for example shoe shining, washing cars and street sales. Even so, the studies concluded that the broad parity of earnings at the skilled worker level pointed to a reasonably efficient and balanced labor market. 6.43. The picture in early 1993 was vastly different. Wide gaps had emerged between public sector, modern and informal sector earnings, with a particularly wide gap between the public sector and other parts of the economy. Broadly speaking, formal private sector earnings averaged half those in the public sector, and informal sector earnings were about two thirds of those in the formal private sector (Table 6. 7). 87 Table 6.7 Monthly Earnings by Type of Employment in Yaoundt, 1993 Employees in public administration 86,000 State enterprises employees 94,000 Formal private sector employees 43,000 Informal private sector employees 26,000 Self employed/other 34,000 6.44. Events in late 1993 may have narrowed the formal-informal earnings gap, but at the same time depressed informal sector earnings even further. Civil service wages were cut by 55- 60% in November-a move sufficient to close the gap, ceteris paribus, between public and private sectors. However, there has been a trickle-down effect on informal earnings. As of 1993, the public administration employed 46,000 people in Yaound&-22% of total employment in the city-and much of the demand for household or personal services was generated by this group. The sudden reduction in demand for informal services as a multiplier or trickle-down effect of the civil service wage cuts has been considerable, with a result that earnings in the informal sector have moved down further. But even before the events of late 1993, earnings in the informal sector were already well below the poverty line applied in Chapter 2, namely CFAF 102,000 per person per month. Average earnings were well below this figure, and those at the low end of the informal labor market were only a fraction of this level. The informal labor market is not leading the way out of poverty, at least not for workers in Yaounde. Rather, the picture that emerges is of a sector sinking into ever lower equilibria. T'he Next Decades: An Explosion of the Labor Force in Prospect 6.45. For the next two decades, demographic dynamics will dictate aggregate labor supply. As mentioned above, around 33% of Cameroonians are under 10 years old, and nearly 60% are under 20. Most will enter the labor force in the next 10-20 years. In contrast, the number of people in the 45 plus age groups who will leave the labor force is around 9%. Disregarding any refinements to allow for the different education and skills mix of the two flows, demographics alone points to a critical challenge for Cameroonian society. To avoid continuing downward pressure on real wages and earnings, labor demand must essentially rise sufficiently to absorb both those presently unemployed and the net increase in the labor force. To achieve buoyant and rising levels of earnings, as was the case in the early part of Cameroon's history, even more rapid growth of labor demand will be necessary. The focus on labor-intensity in long term growth must be extremely sharp if Cameroon is to avoid deepening poverty. 88 VI. concb4sion Weak Performance and Wide Disparities in Meeting Basic Needs 6.46. Carneroon's performance with respect to human resource development has been weak, especially in relation to its middle-income status, and there are wide socio-economic and regional disparities in meeting basic needs (Table 6.8). These findings concur in the main with the conclusions of the expenditure-based poverty profile, and should be seen as part of a broader poverty profile that integrates the many dimensions of poverty. These findings are also reinforced by the "poverty index" outlined in the Appendix to Chapter to and in the mapping of regional and gender disparities in literacy and schooling, malnutrition, and housing, presented in Annex V. Table 6.8: Level of Meeting Selected Basic Needs by Region, 1991 Need Yaounde North West Coastal Center Adunaoua /Douala South West West South, North East Far North Prenatal Care MJH MIH M/H M/H L Maternity Unit M/H M/H M/H L L Medical Assistance M/H M/H MIH M/H L at Birth Vaccination of M/H L L L L Children School Enrollment MMH M/H MIH M/L L R ates__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Access to Clean M/H L L L L Potable Water Key: M/H = medium or high; M/L = medium to low; L = low. 6.47. Use of health services, for example, is strongly correlated with level of urbanization (highest in Yaounde and Douala), regional characteristics (lowest in the "Grand Nord"), and, as concerns child health, the level of maternal education. These data suggest that there is an urgent need to focus on meeting basic needs in the entire northern half of the country. Inadequacy of vaccination coverage is a serious country-wide problem, and is especially acute in the North. Inadequate access to clean, potable water is also a serious problem in the country. This suggests that attention should also be focused on meeting these two substantially unmet needs in the country. The Devaluation of Education and Skills 6.48. The overview of contemporary labor market conditions in Yaounde points to extreme problems for younger workers entering the labor force, a proliferation of low-productivity informal sector work, and an apparent inversion of the relationship between education and employment possibilities. The formal labor market has been all but closed to young workers for the last decade, with the more educated young people encountering the greatest difficulty, as 89 reflected in the age and education profile of the unemployed. Studies of the informal labor market similarly point to an increasing pool of "unused" skills in the informal sector. Skill acquisition is taking place mostly on-the-job, especially in urban areas, but mostly in very low productivity occupations-the only ones open to new entrants. 6.49. These observations point to a substantial and disturbing decline in the private returns to formal education. It is particularly serious because households, when faced with economic hardships, have been observed to reduce their expenditures for education. Some of these reductions may be relatively innocuous in terms of educational achievement. For example, attending a nearby school to save the costs of transport to a more distant one may reduce parents' choices for their children, but does not necessarily imply a lower quality education or less acquisition of learning by the student. Other cuts in household expenditure may be far more harmful. Not spending on school fees or books is likely to result in less learning; not sending or keeping girls in school, apart from its discriminatory effects, has important inter-generational implications for poverty reduction. There are also indirect effects: less expenditure on food, for example, might result in children being less healthy, less able to attend school, and less able to learn while they are at school. The economic pressure on households to cut back on expenditures for schooling is particularly disturbing because it occurs at a time when the public provision of education is in disarray because of strikes and lack of teaching materials, and the perception of the quality of public education is very low on the part of parents. 6.50. For policy makers, the challenge of preventing a decline in education levels is a critical one. The labor market is giving negative signals about the value of education. While at present demand for labor and employment opportunities seem to be adversely linked to education and training levels, the benefits of education/schooling are not restricted to the private returns in the labor market. For society as a whole, the social returns are generally acknowledged to be much higher, especially from primary education. Social benefits show up in terms of improved health, nutrition and family practices, lower fertility among women, smaller-and better cared-for- families, general levels of literacy and understanding of the world, adaptability in adulthood and greater ability to absorb new ideas and technologies. Finding ways to sustain levels of access to schooling over the next decade, especially for girls, is a critical issue for policy makers. 7 Giving Voice to the Poor: Pu1lic Policy and Institutions I. IntrodJctfon 7.1. The social and political upheavals and economic crises in post-independence Sub- Saharan Africa can be attributed in part to institutional and capacity weaknesses (Dia 1993). This chapter aims to address the institutional dimensions of poverty reduction. Its premise is that the voices of the poor need to be heard, at all levels and in all types of institutions concerned with poverty reduction. In listening to the poor, it is hoped that development institutions will catalyze the energies of the poor so as to increase their opportunities for self-fulfillment (Salmen 1990). 7.2. In Cameroon, the institutional framework within which to address poverty reduction cannot be dissociated from broader trends and developments in the country. A complicated colonial history provided the setting for creation of a federal structure at the time of independence (1960), but this proved short-lived and was transformned into a highly centralized one-party state. The inherent and deep-seated tension among political groupings, and the fragmnentation of the society along ethnic, linguistic, regional, and economic lines was contained up until the mid-1980s by a steadily growing economy and a firmly entrenched power structure. Following the onset of the economic crisis in 1986, the tension and fragmentation became overt; they escalated as the recession deepened. To accommodate rising opposition, political pluralism was instituted by law in November 1990, legalizing the numerous political parties which had formed over the years, but the structures of privilege and power were largely unaffected, and the country suffered a period of civil unrest in 1991 and 1992. The current situation in Cameroon is therefore volatile and limits the effectiveness of the Government. 7.3. Institutional factors affecting poverty reduction at the Government level include unclear mandates and duplication or overlapping of tasks, the lack of transparency and accountability, management and operational issues relating to human and financial resource allocation, and, more recently, cuts and imbalances in budget allocations, leading inter alia to shortages of materials and equipment and increasing regional disparities. Many Cameroonians, including many Government staff, are increasingly disenchanted with what they see as structural blocks to improved Government management. The country's rich resource endowment leads many to believe that public mismanagement, not lack of resources, is a core development problem which requires fundamental change. This perception, which underpins an increasingly widespread lack of confidence in the Government, is one of the critical institutional factors which needs to be addressed if poverty reduction is to become a high priority in Cameroon. 7.4. Poverty reduction in Cameroon has been shaped by a view of development and of the role of the state and civil society which seem to be widely shared among the urban elites who are important in Govermment as policy makers and outside Government as contributors to community associations and organizers of non-governmental organizations. There seems to be a 91 widespread philosophy of community development based on the assumption that elites and other community members, including the poorest, have the same interests. Corollary assumptions are that communities and households "naturally" take care of all their members, with those having more wealth ensuring the welfare of those less able to take care of their own needs, and that elites legitimately speak for people in villages, and men speak for women and children in households. This philosophy of social solidarity and social trickle-down is based in part on the history of urban to rural transfers during the years when urban salaries allowed workers to maintain a secure life style and make contributions to family and village members. This has meant that the Government has not had a concerted program of poverty reduction, nor has poverty reduction been conceived of as distinct from community development (usually rural) by people outside Government. 7.5. A strongly state-centric view of both rights and interventions in society was built after independence, in part to counter social tensions; this continuous balancing of disparate and divergent interest groups (regional, ethnic, family, linguistic, and economic) is widely thought to be a major determinant of Government behavior (Courcelle et al. 1990). Most functions and rights are attributed to the state unless explicitly specified otherwise. The central state, while strong in terms of the functions and rights ascribed to it on paper, has been weak in terms of implementing official development programs. Project effectiveness has recurrently been constrained by Government's weak implementation capacity, deficiencies in procurement, lack of coordination and the worsening macroeconomic environment with its negative impact on the availability of budgetary resources for local counterpart financing. A pervasive lack of budgetary oversight and expenditure accountability throughout the public administration has added to these problems. Inadequate project design did not take into account existing constraints and Government capacity to deliver (World Bank 1 994a). 7.6. In the atmosphere of limited resources, a new philosophy of support for self-help initiatives of the poor is being articulated in parts of Government, although even support for community effort requires that Government carry out certain functions effectively. This support is welcome to community-based associations and donors. Associative life in Cameroon is widely perceived to be reviving, though in some areas of the country such as the North West it has always been strong, with most people belonging to groups including rotating savings societies, farmer groups, community development groups, church groups, and consumer cooperatives (Walker 1990). The Government has taken important supportive measures, such as the Law of Associations (1990) and Law of Cooperatives (1993), which reinstated formal recognition for such associations. Community-based associations such as PTAs have kept education alive in many places, but without being able to produce the desired quality. Economic activities and community improvement projects are financed through traditional mechanisms such as tontines (para. 7.35 below) but the regional distribution of these organizations and the resources they can mobilize are uneven. 7.7. The perception of a high level of corruption in Cameroon contributes to the lack of public and donor confidence in both Government and other institutions (Chapter 3). Petty corruption has the most direct impact on the poor, in the form of illegitimately imposed user fees (payments demanded for vehicles passing transportation checkpoints in excess of fixed tolls; payments on the side demanded by field-level personnel before services are rendered). This is expected to increase with the continuing erosion of public sector salaries, in particular if field staff salaries are paid even more irregularly than those in urban centers, as appears to be the case. 92 7.8. Institutions outside Government which contribute to poverty reduction also suffer from weak capacity and limited field presence. NGOs and the media, which might help strengthen Government effectiveness through information sharing, or which might support community level initiatives and provide alternative services for poverty reduction are new and weak, suffering from their own credibility problems, which limits their transparency and accountability. II. systmic issIes Central Government 7.9. There have been no national development plans since 1989, when the first adjustment program was agreed. Since then, public expenditure programming has been ineffective as a tool for establishing and implementing national development priorities, including poverty reduction (World Bank 1990a). There is no national structure for independent review of what has been done and what has worked to feed back into planning and policy making on a national or sectoral level. In expenditure programming, short-term time horizons prevail, along with a disjuncture between planning for investments and planning for recurrent costs, even on an agency level. Decisions about investments are incremental and opportunistic, depending on whether the proposed project has a politically important sponsor and external financing is available for initial costs. Actual expenditures, and hence decisions about which components of which programs are funded, are made in practice by the Ministry of Finance. 7.10. Coordination between ministries is problematic. Multisectoral commissions have been created to try to solve the problems but, in practice, these commissions have generally failed to establish clear priorities and make decisions. The SDA Commission had 35 members, which may be considerably more than optimal for effective decision making. The technical committees supporting the decision-making commissions have been endowed with considerable staff seconded from ministries, weakening the ministries themselves. Apart from the commissions, there is in principle a link between the planning cell in each Ministry and their sectoral counterparts in the Ministry of Plan. In practice, the people in the sectoral ministries may not know the name of their counterpart in MINPAT. Coordination and collaboration even within ministries are said to be weak. Donors perceive that there is in fact little demand from the highest levels of Government for information on which to base policy, hence little incentive for other levels to ask for and to provide the kind of information which would be meaningful and policy relevant. 7.11. In addition to the lack of explicit poverty reduction policies backed up by leadership in implementation of such policy, civil service management conditions and practices sometimes work against public sector effectiveness. Basic supplies and equipment that would allow staff to carry out their jobs are lacking; existing equipment is not maintained, so that, for instance, vaccines often have to be destroyed because the cold chain cannot be assured. The result is that staff are discouraged and clients do not bother to come to Government facilities. In health centers, for example, each staffer worked on average about 3 hours/day, spending the rest of the time waiting for clients to come. Even before the devaluation, salaries were not paid regularly, with the consequent lowering of motivation. Many civil servants took on extra employment to feed their families, and this tendency is reported to be growing. Women are particularly active in supplementing family income with micro enterprises such as selling food at the roadside. 93 These household survival measures leave many civil servants with little time or energy for their official duties. 7.12. Nonetheless, many civil servants have continued to come to work even when salaries were not being paid. The lack of sanctions against those who were not working has been disheartening for this group. Morale and effectiveness are further lowered by the feeling of many field level staff that they have been abandoned by the central administration, from which they are isolated and which takes little account of their views and does not provide them with the equipment necessary to do their jobs correctly (NC Consultants 1992). Since promotion has more to do with length of service than with performance, career paths are not effective incentives for performance either. 7.13. Beyond the issue of regional distribution of personnel in key ministries, which was illustrated in the case of health in Chapter 6, there is also the problem of the personnel allocation policy, whereby staff are assigned to regions which are not their own. In the context of Cameroon's exceptional diversity, this policy should be reconsidered, perhaps in the framework of a broader program of devolution of responsibility to the local level, so that the accountability of staff at the local level can be strengthened. Local Government 7.14. Formal local government is weak compared to the representation of the central Government at the local level. The commune is the formal unit of local government, but it lacks the ability to raise revenue (except in the case of the new decentralized health committees), and it has few legal powers. By contrast, representatives of the central Government at the local level are responsible for law enforcement and regulation of local business, in addition to their administrative responsibilities. The role of traditional authorities, and their function with regard to poverty reduction, varies widely by region. In some areas, traditional leaders promote community self-help efforts which substitute for services which Government might have provided, such as water systems and local road maintenance. In other areas, traditional elites are more exploitative. Communiy-BasedAssociations (CBAs) 7.15. Community-based associations (CBAs) here refer to groups of people in a locality organized to help individual members or members of their village or ethnic group. They are called "community-based" to emphasize that they are not necessarily representative of the entire community. "Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)," by contrast, are intermediary organizations formed to support CBAs, to initiate projects at the grassroots, or to raise public awareness on development issues; the principal beneficiaries of NGOs are not individual members of the NGO itself, although grassroots organizations may be both members and beneficiaries of certain NGOs. Some are traditional and informal, such as mutuelles which pool savings; others, such as village health management committees, are new, have written rules, officers, and Government recognition, and have been organized specifically for development purposes. Different regions have different types and frequency of CBAs, but general types and functions include: Groups existing to pool savings for group or individual enterprises, for community projects or for both. Entrance to such groups is by paying an initial 94 fee, and each member deposits something at fixed intervals. Increasingly, such groups seek outside financial assistance from NGOs or donors. Such funding is available especially for women's and environmental small projects, but such groups have long existed, most dynamically among the Bamileke, to support both small and large enterprises. Traditional groups often lent at high interest rates to group members over very short time horizons for emergencies or investments, but some also lent without interest to get people on their feet (Champaud 1983). 4 Groups of farmers who establish a group plot or work on each other's plots a certain number of hours per month; they may also run a tontine, pooling savings which can be used for members' emergencies, or for an enterprise such as buying palm oil from wholesalers and retailing it in the village. Such groups are not always spontaneously formed; one women farmers' group in North West province reported starting 8 years ago in response to a Government announcement of a credit program for groups that established revolving funds from savings. The government provided training on how to manage such funds. Although the credit was never forthcoming, the women found the group plot and the fund useful and have kept it going since. 4 Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs), whose members pay a subscription for particular projects and may turn the money over to the schools. The school may or may not use the money for the purpose intended by the PTA. Members can also be asked to contribute labor for construction projects. 4-- Church groups, which usually have affiliations to a national level group such as the Catholic Women's Association or the Christian Women's Fellowship. Religious groups are a primary safety net in some areas. 4 Groups of town-dwellers from a village who associate both for social activities and to support village projects. Typically, they each contribute money for projects, but may approach foreign donors for assistance as well. Some projects mentioned address social welfare needs, such as establishing a nursery school; many of these projects are suggested by a traditional leader, and the need verified by group members. Other uses of funds can be traditional, such as renovating a palace (mentioned by a number of groups and cited as a typical project in written sources, or as complex as, in one case, preserving a local language through having computer software developed to accommodate the language, buying a computer, and getting village people to record the language (Champaud 1983). 7.16. Despite the widespread view that community solidarity is natural, those who have worked closely with associations in Cameroon report that social tensions (ealousy, sorcery, and personal power struggles) can play a divisive role, and that general cooperation is not automatic. Community-wide groups may be dominated by the interests of those who are better off and have more resources, especially time, to devote to group activities. Smaller groups made up exclusively of poor people focus more on their specific needs, but may not have the linkages necessary to claim needed services or inputs. Where women are largely confined to the house, their ability to participate in associations is correspondingly limited. Some who work with 95 associations report that it is harder to organize them in the south, east and center; in the two former, lack of a tradition of local organizations is a constraint; in the latter, the relatively heavy presence of Government has led to a greater mentality of dependency. Others feel that it is easier to organize associations of the poor where they have no tradition of elite-led, individual saving and enterprise oriented groups such as tontines. Given Cameroon's cultural and economic diversity, determining the number and type of such associations must be undertaken locally; the composition and objectives of such organizations, and hence the degree to which they give voice to the poorest, is too variable for generalizations to be valid. 7.17. An important source of financing for some community-based associations has been transfers from community members living in urban centers; some of these transfers go to households while others go to a CBA. Those employed in the formal sector see this as an important engine of community development in the past. With both devaluation and cuts in civil service salaries and non-payment of civil service salaries, resource transfers have already been changing direction, cutting off one of the sources of financing for community-based initiatives. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) 7.18. Cameroon's NGO community consists of a small number of international professional NGOs, a very few established Cameroonian secular NGOs, a larger number of established religious NGOs, and a rapidly increasing number of new indigenous secular NGOs. In numbers, the newer and weaker secular NGOs predominate, and their development problems are attracting increasing attention. This in turn affects perceptions of the capacity and credibility of the entire NGO sector. 7.19. Religious NGOs, particularly those attached to the Catholic and Protestant churches, have had a significant role in education and health service delivery in Cameroon. They were not prevented from organizing prior to the 1990 liberalization of laws governing associations, and hence have more experience than the new indigenous secular NGOs. Their services may cost more than services in Government facilities, but people who are close enough to make use of their health facilities, for example, prefer them: they have equipment and drugs, and personnel treat patients with respect (Chapter 3). 7.20. A surprisingly small number of major international NGOs are present, given the size of Cameroon. In addition to NGOs such as CARE, Save the Children, Organisation Canadienne pour la Solidarite et le Developpement (OCSD) and World Wide Fund for Nature, government- organized volunteer agencies such as SNV and the US Peace Corps, and the French volunteer organization perform similar work and are often considered as NGOs. Some of the internationals, such as CARE, run their own programs, often with participation of local NGOs; others, such as OCSD, exist solely to strengthen indigenous NGOs and community groups. A new group of funding structures for initiatives at the grassroots have been organized by donors to fund both indigenous NGOs and community associations, especially those working in the environment (Africa 2000, Global Environmental Facility, and USAID's Natural Resource Management Support). 7.21. Within the NGO community, a few organizations exist to provide specialized services to other NGOs. The older African NGOs, which were incorporated before 1990 under foreign laws to avoid the restrictions of Camneroonian law at the time, focus on training of other NGOs and community groups: the Pan-African Institute for Development, APICA, and 96 INADES/Formation. In 1990, COPAD, the Collectif des Organismes de Participation au Developpement au Cameroun was founded to strengthen the NGO community in general. So far, however, COPAD has not been able to offer many services to its members, nor has it articulated a compelling vision of its role (Fox 1993). COPAD is just now beginning to explore how it can develop and enforce standards for its members, so that belonging to COPAD would mean that an NGO meets some qualitative criteria. 7.22. Secular indigenous NGOs have been proliferating since the Law of Associations in 1990. This law makes no distinction between NGOs and community associations; both register at the provincial level under a policy of non-objection: if there is no objection from the Ministry of Territorial Administration within 4 weeks, the group can begin work. While registration is simple and liberal, it does not confer the special status accorded to NGOs in many countries, such as exemptions from customs duty and taxes. Nor does it confer the right for NGOs to receive outside financing without Government permission (although this provision of the law is not enforced regularly). Apparently no figures on the numbers and distribution of NGOs are available to the central government, nor are figures on numbers and types of NGOs refused registration. The Directorate of Human Resources of MINPAT has responsibility for coordinating NGOs at the central level. So far, this has meant (according to MINPAT staff) referring NGOs to the appropriate contact in the relevant technical ministry. 7.23. Most new NGOs have weak implementation capacity. They lack adequate management systems at all levels, from financial management to planning, monitoring and evaluation systems (Fox 1993). Indeed, many have no full-time staff or permanent offices. They operate on a voluntary basis and are funded largely by member contributions. Their capacity to make good use of new resources is limited; slow growth and testing of effectiveness would be preferable to allow them to develop an experience base. 7.24. There is little data to indicate the extent to which indigenous NGOs work specifically with the poorest since, in common with the Cameroonian development community in general, NGOs have used working in rural areas as a proxy for working with the poor (this also reflects the availability of donor funding which, until recently, has been concentrated in rural areas, where NGOs are active in agriculture, natural resource management, and water and sanitation) (Fox 1993). Two newer areas of NGO focus, microenterprise and AIDS education, are increasing the number of NGO activities in urban areas, with OCSD reporting that 50% of those who approach them for assistance are from urban areas. 7.25. Observers note the multiplicity of small new NGOs operating in the same thematic areas, particularly women's and environmental groups; this is attributed in part to availability of donor financing in these areas. A number of sectoral consortia have been started in these areas. Some of this is apparently at the instigation of donors and possibly govermment, both of which consider the proliferation of tiny NGOs with the same objectives to be a disadvantage (spreading human resources too thin, failure to learn from experience since the experiences happen in different organizations) and difficult to fund. Some concentration is NGO initiated; 63 women's groups recently founded the Federation of Women's Associations in Cameroon (FAFCAM) to prepare an NGO report for the Fourth World Women's Conference, scheduled to take place in Beijing in September 1995. 7.26. The role of NGOs in advocacy on public issues appears to be just beginning. There has been little sustained, organized lobbying on public issues in general. NGOs do not generally 97 have enough operational experience and research sophistication for their participation to be sought in policy making, though there are some exceptions. A number of NGO staff also cite rivalry and individualism as factors keeping NGOs from forming coalitions on policy issues. There are, however, a few areas in which advocacy NGOs or associations are having some impact, for example, the associations of rural federations or the lobbying of anglophone parents of schoolchildren for an appropriate GCE board. A project of the Embassy of Canada is assisting the organization of producers and transporters involved in the vertical chain of food exports, a group which could eventually be a pressure group for appropriate tariff policy and road construction and maintenance. 7.27. In addition to NGOs organized to work on development problems, some professional associations play development roles. For example, the Association of Women Lawyers does pro bono work for indigent women and work on educating women about their legal rights. Other professional associations could strengthen standards in key development-related professions such as journalism. Giving Voice to the Poor: The Gender Dimension 7.28. Institutions involved in development and poverty reduction must hear the voices of both men and women because very often they will not be saying the same thing. It cannot be assumed that (male) community leaders or representatives filly understand, reflect, or speak for the needs of the entire community. If we want effective participation of both men and women as stakeholders in development, we must actively and explicitly find ways to capture their very distinctive voices, expressing-where and when they vary-their different needs, limitations, priorities, and aspirations. In Cameroon, there are strong gender differentials in participation in public life. As illustrated in Figure 7.1, women are either not represented at all or constitute a very small minority of those holding public office in a range of areas. Figure 7.1: Cameroon, Participation of Men and Women in Public Ufe, 1992 1to% 90% 80% 70% o60% M . 50% *W~~~~~~~~omen 40% 30% 20% 0% CATEGORY Source: FAFCAM. 98 7.29. In contrast to men, women also have much less access to information, in part as a result of their isolation (Box 7.1). Box 7.1: Information inequalities, poverty, and gender Information inequalities within communities and households exist and often work against women and the poorest. Social and geographic isolation is one of the determinants of poverty, making it difficult to get information disseminated in public places. Women in some regions may be confined to the home, for example, and, a study carried out in Yaounde revealed that some require a husband's, father's, or brother's permission to go out. A 1988 study revealed that 18% of women-managed farms had seen an extension agent, whereas half of male-or jointly-managed farms had. The study concluded that women farmers rely less than men on information passed on from other farmers and are more likely to pay attention to information presented orally, by demonstration, and in group settings (Koons 1988). MINASCOF staff claimed that the imbalance continues; although extension agents of other services know that it is critical to get agricultural information to women, they still provide the information at times and in places that women do not frequent. A woman's husband, father or brother has access to her bank accounts but not vice versa, providing him with infornation on her assets. When women in one farmer's group were questioned about how their husbands used their money, they laughed and said "We don't know." Ill. Suporttin, Loca1 initiatives and Particiyation 1) the Poor Government Operational Issues 7.30. The behavior of field staff is critical in a system which seeks to provide services which users value. It is difficult to generalize about whether civil servants have the competencies needed for poverty reduction work in the absence of basic supplies and equipment and a consistent, pro-poor policy. Even before the devaluation, salaries were not paid regularly, leading many civil servants to take on extra employment to feed their families, with consequent neglect of their Government functions. 7.31. While field staff need incentives which encourage them to listen to clients, treat them with dignity, and have a mentality of service, they also need to know what kinds of behaviors to use. There is general agreement that field workers in most of the services have not been trained in these skills. MINASCOF's animatrices rurales and the Ministry of Agriculture's community development agents are judged to be the most oriented toward listening and persuading, but cooperation between them and the field agents of other services depends on personal initiative and is usually low in the absence of an outside agency (such as CARE in the North) which plays a coordinating role. As a result, extension agents in the different services have no coherent or strategic package of services to offer any group of clients and may in fact be giving contradictory advice. In general, field staff have been trained for control and one-way communication, to carry a centrally-formulated message to communities and get them to adopt practices the government or donors have decided are best. According to an SNV study, forestry agents, for example, have been trained to detect violation of laws and mete out punishment rather than to help local people manage forest resources for sustainable development. Stories from village groups indicated that some extension agents exhort farmers to adopt particular practices (such as not burning off ground cover) which the farmers reject. From the farmners' accounts, the agents do not often engage in dialogue or look for creative solutions but merely repeat the advice. 7.32. In other areas, past training does not match current policy. In health, ministry officials and others pointed out the overemphasis on curative care in health training, which does not 99 support the more prevention-oriented messages which are now considered important. Senior Health officials report that care providers do not understand the value of statistics and have not been trained to listen, evaluate what they hear, collect, analyze and interpret data, and bring important information to the attention of their superiors. Supporting Initiatives of and Participation by the Poor: NGO and Donor Mechanisms 7.33. There are many sources of support for CBAs among intermediary non-governmental organizations and official donors. Agencies with experience supporting community projects agree that money is not the first or even primary need of community organizations if long-term development is the aim. Most agencies take the time to build a relationship with a community or group, assisting them in carrying out needs analyses and prioritizing activities to undertake. In general, community associations need both management and technical training (how to manage community funds, keeping track of costs and benefits, skills for specific income-earning activities), small amounts of funding, and horizontal and vertical linkages (knowledge of how similar groups are resolving their problems, but also sources of information about how/whom to contact for various kinds of assistance and support). Sometimes the outside agency does a regional background study to ensure that it understands the relationships between people and environment, and between different groups of people, ensuring that both feel that their concerns are being addressed, and that they will not be threatened by the work with the primary beneficiaries. 7.34. Supporting community projects is labor-intensive when the object is to build groups that can sustain the projects they undertake; quick disbursing mechanisms can be useful for short- term projects but do not lead to sustainability. The Organisation Canadienne pour la Solidarite et le Developpement (OCSD), with a staff of 6 professionals, a director, and an accountant, began in November 1991. By September 1993, it supported 110 micro projects, adding 10 more by February 1994 (OECD 1994). In addition to its own staff, OCSD associates some 35 people (local consultants or NGOs) with support to women's groups. 7.35. Cameroon is renowned for its thriving network of informal financial institutions, known as tontines. These institutions demonstrate that dynamism and efficiency can be combined with transparency and accountability to meet changing and diverse financial needs. They offer considerable potential as institutional models and frameworks for the efficient and effective delivery of financial services to poor people (Box 7.2). 100 Box 7.2: Tontines The infornal savings and credit organizations, known as tontines or njangis, are a growing source of funds for both rural and urban communities, and particularly for women who are largely excluded from the formal financial system and who constitute the large majority of tontines' members. Tontines are a special feature in Cameroon which has a long history of informal farmers and women's groups. There are about 2,000 tontines country-wide, with between 100 and 400 in each province. Group membership may comprise an extended family, clan or districts, or may be established with a particular activity or focus. Tontines were primarily established for social purposes. By promoting savings, members were able to meet their financial needs and to support each other in case of death, marriage and birth. Tontines provided a foundation for establishment of "Solidarity Trust Funds" with annual members' contributions ranging from as little as S20 and up to $40 and above, depending on their social status. The management of tontines is primarily based on social values. The mechanisms are nevertheless simple and provide the highest level of accountability and transparency, which is difficult to find in formal institutions and management systems. Tontines have evolved over the years, and with the persistence of poverty in Cameroon, some tontines (15 interviewed in Douala and Yaounde) introduced a credit component in their social activities. They launched the financing of micro-projects aimed at coping with rising poverty among their members and even included assistance to non-members. Credits are applied with an interest rate ranging from 5% to 15%o. The tontines with credit components tend to have larger memberships (usually composed of women 15 - 170 members) and this means that loan amounts are quite significant, reaching at times around USS4,000. This allowed the borrowers to meet personal and family needs, and it also encouraged income-generating activities in both the formal and informal sectors. Making credit available to its members and to other poor segments of the population for small income- generating or social types of investments in micro-projects, tontines have shown themselves as a vital coping mechanism that communities themselves, at all levels, have initiated and strengthened. The guiding principles of tontines are based on loyalty and trust for a common cause. Tontine models can be valuable institutional frameworks for the Government and for donors, including the World Bank, to promote community direct involvement in channeling development funds to the beneficiaries. The FIMAC project (see Chapter 9) has built on this system, and today it is cited as one of the most successful community projects in Cameroon. Source: Henry et al. 1991, and mission data. ~t qzl 4. 8 Poverty ReduCtion: A Question of Priorty I. introductiont 8.1. This chapter and the ones that follow Bax 8.1: Broad Elements of a Strategyfor Sustainable aim to present key elements of a poverty Poverty Reduction reduction strategy for Cameroon. The essential components of a poverty reduction Equitable labor-using growth, accompanied by broad- essental coponens of apovery rc,based investment in basic health, education, and strategy are well known (Box 8.1), and retain infrastructure, would have to be the pillars of any poverty all their relevance for Cameroon. The reduction strategy. In order to encourage growth, strategy presented here focuses on sustaining macroeconomic stability is necessary, as is agricultural and strengthening the economic reform effort development and private sector development. initiated with the devaluation of tlhe CFA Throughout-in health, education and agriculture, for initiaed wit the dvaluaton of he CFA example--reducing gender inequities is crucial. Studies franc, including: (i) the pursuit of labor- of recently successful development have confirmed these intensive growth policies which favor the broad elements of the development agenda, but have also poor (Section III); and (ii) radically emphasized the importance of the capacity of a nation to restructuring public finance, and particularly manage its affairs in an internal and external environment that is uncertain and volatile. Finally, environnental public spending, (mindful of the limits sustainability and the population dimension have now imposed by fiscal constraints) to emphasize been brought firmly into the development agenda. critical human resource and infrastructure expenditures benefiting the poor (Section IV). Source: World Bank. 1995. The poverty reduction strategy places sustained attention to improving food security at the forefront of the country's efforts, not only as an end in itself, but as a means of capitalizing on cross-sectoral synergies (Chapter 9). Consistent with the concern for systemic poverty issues raised in this assessment, the strategy also outlines elements of a longer-term poverty reduction agenda (Chapter 10), in which environmental and natural resource management, land tenure reform, and institutional performance and capacity issues are emphasized. 8.2. Process is every bit as important as what is done. The process of articulating (and acting on) specific policies to reduce poverty is necessarily iterative, and must, first and foremost, involve Cameroon's Government, civil society, and the poor themselves. Poverty reduction can only succeed if it engages the energies of all Cameroonians to work together, as concerted action will be essential to address the magnitude of the country's recent impoverishment and its systemic poverty problems, and to mobilize the resources required. Rebuilding the partnership between the public sector and civil society at large will not only help to reduce poverty, but will also turn Cameroon's exceptional diversity and dynamism into an asset. 8.3. Cameroon is a resource-rich and fertile country whose potential is not being realized. With its natural and human resource base, the country has solid foundations for restoring economic growth (one of the pre-requisites for any successful poverty reduction strategy) and for meeting the basic needs of its population. These chapters outline a critical agenda, and suggest 104 some specific actions, to reduce poverty. Acting forcefully on this agenda can be a vital means of mobilizing multi-donor support, thereby easing the fiscal and budgetary constraints which inevitably limit the options of the public sector. 11. Listen1 to the Peoyle 8.4. There is remarkable convergence between the viewpoint of "experts" and that of the poor themselves as to what Cameroon needs to do to reduce poverty. Key actions identified by poor people in the framework of the PPA emphasize institutional performance, greater local initiative, and provision of basic infrastructure, as essential components of poverty reduction (Box 8.2). Box 8.2: The Action Plan of the Poor The poor have the initiative, industry, interest, creativity, and energy to make meaningful contributions to poverty reduction in Cameroon. They have demonstrated this through self-help and community-based associations, and through the various coping mechanisms adopted within the last five years. In the PPA, the poor identified the following priorities: + the efforts of individuals must be reinforced by strong, viable, and efficient institutions; + political will and commitment to reduce poverty, and to reduce regional imbalances; without these no amount of policy reforms can help them in the present circumstances; + road infrastructure, lack of which is seen as a deterrent to personal and community initiatives in reducing poverty, so as to promote agriculture and other sectors of the economy; + create opportunities to increase household income; + reorientation of expenditures in the public sector; 4 greater decentralization of institutions, institution-building based on existing community spirit, and creation of enabling environment for the private sector to grow. Source: PPA Synthesis Report 1994. In the course of preparing this assessment, and as part of the effort to promote dialogue on poverty reduction, a National Workshop on Poverty was held in Kribi in November 1994, the principal objective of which was for Cameroonians (inside and outside Government) to articulate their own strategy for poverty reduction. The summary recommendations of the Kribi workshop are presented in Box 8.3. 105 Box 8.3: Cameroonian Priorities The principal actions to reduce poverty in the country, articulated by the Cameroonian Government and non-government experts who participated in the Kribi technical workshop, focus on five areas, as follows: 4 governance and institutional reform: decentralization of services, such as education, health, and agriculture financial decentralization of the "communes" creation of a Social Action Fund monitoring of the process of economic reform strengthening of communication and collaboration among decentralized institutions employment and income: articulation of a clear employment policy, integrated into macroeconomic policy, and involving tripartite collaboration (government, employer, worker) promotion of labor-intensive public works programs, favoring domestic resource use iimprovement of agricultural productivity (necessarily benefiting women), and strengthening of the food storage, conservation, marketing, transformation, and export chain encourage formation of groups bringing together informal sector workers and artisans, aimed at establishing a financing program and assistance to local production initiatives establishment of a statistical capacity to collect and evaluate data for poverty monitoring education, training, and health: decentralization of institutions and decision-making in the education, training, and health sectors, including financial management, and disciplinary measures aimed at facilitating implementation of sanctions to promote greater institutional transparency and responsibility for education: reorient education policy and programs at all levels, in a manner adapted to socio- cultural realities in Cameroon; access to free basic education, especially for girls, should be assured by the state; the school-leaving should be set, and enforced, at 16; scholarships should be assigned and managed by the "communes", should target the poor and disadvantaged, without discrimination by sex, ethnic or religious affiliation, and be based on merit for health: health policy should emphasize basic preventive care, not curative care; family planning programs should be strengthened by the Government and other development agencies in their projects, and make greater use of local languages for training and sensitization environment and infrastructure: associate the populations represented by local collectivities in management of forest exploitation, assuring these populations an appropriate share of the income from such exploitation undertake a land reform process to assure usufruct rights to those who effectively use the land to strengthen the security of their investment and to contribute to appropriate regulation of land use define and implement a program for construction and maintenance of rural roads, above and beyond what is included in the present transport sector operation, which will contribute to evacuation of food crops to markets, much of which is produced by women • local initiatives: 4 decentralization as an underpinning for greater responsibility at the local level 4 strengthening of management and organizational capacity of local NGOs 4 support for local initiative, local NGOs, targeting women's activities 4 greater participation ("voice") of local NGOs in areas of principal concem to them Source: Synthesis Report of Technical Workshop, Kribi, November 10, 1994. 106 ImI. Economic Policyfrom a Povcrty Persyective 8.5. Successful poverty reduction strategies in countries around the world have had at their core two essential economic components: rapid labor-intensive growth that builds on the labor of the poor, and a willingness to invest in human resources throughout all layers of society. A third element, adequate social safety nets, can also play a vital part in smoothing transition of the kind Cameroon is experiencing, and in addressing structural poverty (World Bank 1990d). The success of a country's economic policies has a large part to play in the success of its poverty reduction efforts. This section will set out some of the ways in which Cameroon can combine stronger economic policies with a stronger and more inclusive poverty reduction effort. It is important to recognize that many factors condition both economic and poverty outcomes: sociological, anthropological and cultural influences, institutional, legal and political structures, administrative capabilities, quality of governance, political, community, and personal commitment all make a difference. Given Cameroon's great diversity, the challenge of successfully blending all these factors is particularly great. But the challenge is not insuperable, as witnessed by the strong poverty reduction achievements of other diverse countries such as China or Indonesia. Unlocking the Potential: From Devaluation to Growth 8.6. Countries that have been successful in reducing poverty over an extended period have almost invariably built this achievement on high and sustained economic growth. For countries that failed to achieve high growth, successful poverty reduction has generally been elusive, with progress limited to whatever can be achieved by reallocating a fixed amount of resources, typically in favor of labor-intensive activities and human resource development. Internationally, no widely acknowledged success story has been achieved without high and sustained economic growth. The downward economic slide of the 1985-93 period in Cameroon illustrates the difficulty of reducing poverty in the face of a declining economy. 8.7. With its natural and human resource base, Cameroon has clear potential for restoring economic growth, one of the essential prerequisites for any successful poverty reduction strategy. With the devaluation of the CFA franc by 50% in January 1994, a new economic strategy has been put in place that offers a foundation for rebuilding the economy (Box 8.4). The Government has an outstanding, if not unique, opportunity to transform economic policies and, if it chooses, to reverse the process of impoverishment. 8.8. For those policy makers concerned with poverty reduction, the devaluation is an opportunity, but if not followed up consistently, it will have done little more than buy a brief pause in the trend of the last few years, while adding appreciably to the risks of short-term impoverishment of some already vulnerable groups. If the package of accompanying structural measures, some of which may also be painful socially, is implemented with vigor, the devaluation can bring renewed and sustained growth. To convert this growth into long-term poverty reduction requires further steps, some of them also very difficult. Cameroon has the potential to achieve what other high-performing countries around the world have already done. The question is whether the opportunities that are present today will be seized vigorously, partially, or not at all. 107 Box 84: A Broad Reform Package To build competitiveness, restore growth, and reduce poverty on a long-term basis, the devaluation was only a first step in what should be a much larger process of reform. Since January, 1994, the Government has implemented accompanying measures designed to address an immediate and potentially destructive side effect of the devaluation, namely the threat of inflation; bring sustainable real GDP growth up to 5% per year within eighteen months, with a leading role for export agriculture and import substitution; and ease pressure on the economy as a result of Government deficits and avoid pre-empting resources (including external assistance) to finance these deficits. Relatively little of the package of measures is targeted directly toward poverty reduction actions, but in the broader perspective of restoring growth, the package has already shown more promise for the poor than any of those attempted since 1985. Initially, the emphasis of the Government's program has been on tightening fiscal policy and making better use of public resources, rationalization of trade and price regulations, strengthening the performance of the public enterprise sector, and implementing measures to ease acute hardships directly attributable to the devaluation or other parts of the program. This last set of measures included temporary tax breaks for essential foods, programs to create or encourage employment, and assured levels of public resources for the non-wage component of education and health spending. From Devaluation to Poverty Reduction 8.9. From a poverty perspective, the need for successful completion of the reforms that began after the devaluation cannot be stressed enough. Labor-intensive growth is the key to raising household incomes. This is what the package potentially offers. But the benefits are not automatic and depend on a commitment to implement the rest of the package. If production costs in Cameroon are again allowed to rise because of inflation, or if potential gains in economic efficiency are missed through incomplete adjustment, the benefits of devaluation will certainly be lost and the growth process will falter. 8.10. Some measures implemented since the devaluation have already had a direct and positive impact on the poor, especially the rural poor. The partial pass-through of higher agricultural export prices to producers of arabica and robusta coffee, cocoa and cotton in 1994, for example, improved the incomes of at least the 60% of the rural poor who grew those crops. With complete pass-through of the price benefits of devaluation to producers, farmers have the potential over the medium-term to triple their gross nominal incomes (Steedman and Amegbeto 1994). Even though rising costs of imported and some local inputs may erode part of the gains from rising producer prices, the gain will still be large. 8.11. Despite the widespread benefits for the poor from completing the adjustment package, there are some aspects that have had and may continue to have a negative impact in the short term. These affect especially people whose livelihood is earned from wage employment, informal manufacturing, and domestic and personal services. Three main problems are being encountered in moving through the difficult period of devaluation and adjustment to longer-tenn growth and poverty reduction: coping with the rise in consumer prices, protecting essential goods and services, and buoying both the short- and longer-term demand for labor. 8.12. Coping with rising prices. To ensure that the competitiveness and growth benefits of devaluation are attained and that the poor do not suffer further and unnecessary erosion of their incomes, elimination of inflation has had a high priority. The evolution of inflation in the first year after devaluation suggests that while further caution is needed, control of inflation is 108 possible.' The key to control of inflation is tight demand management, but the experience of the last decade offers some practical pointers for the future. 4 Structural reforms that can hold prices down through competition, such as the deregulation of transport or agricultural marketing, are still incomplete and need to be accelerated. Otherwise, there will be an excessive reliance on the same recessionary demand management policies that proved so harnful to the poor in the past. Measures to lower production costs and achieve greater efficiency in all sectors of the economy are essential to avoid a return to continued monetary and fiscal repression and forcing down of nominal wages and prices. Structural measures that increase efficiency in transportation or distribution or that lower the costs of economic regulation make sense for economic efficiency, and many of them can also help bring important gains for the poor. 4 Keeping the fiscal deficit under control is sound anti-inflatioi. policy. It also prevents the crowding out of banking system credit to the productive economy. Even if credit has to remain very tight, it must be directed to productive activities for growth to occur. The access of the poor to credit must be opened up if they are to share in growth. 8.13. Protecting essential goods and services. Based on the responses heard from the Participatory Poverty Analysis (PPA), the poor have already made many adjustments to increased consumer prices by changing their patterns of consumption (Chapter 3). In a difficult period, there is a need to ensure that long-term harm does not accrue because essential goods or services for the poor are absent. 8.14. To the extent that local goods have been substituted for imported ones, as for example substituting local millet for imported rice, there is not necessarily any reduction in overall well- being. Indeed, there may even be a double benefit: nutritional quality may improve, and income opportunities of (mainly women) farmers might be enhanced (Chapter 4). But where price realignments have been accompanied by a fall in income, there may be reductions in expenditure that risk having a harmful long-term effect. This might be the case with expenditures for education or health, or that lower food consumption. Rising costs may erect an additional barrier for the poor by hampering them in their ability to earn income. Increased transport costs after the devaluation have made it more expensive for farmers to bring surpluses to market and for urban workers to get to work. 8.15. To address such difficulties, a possible response by policy makers may be to seek to contain price increases through economic regulation or subsidization through public resources. Some CFA countries introduced such measures immediately after devaluation as a short-term reaction to the possibility of excessive profit-taking or too rapid initial adjustment of prices by traders. Great caution needs to be exercised before Cameroon adopts such measures. As a means of softening or avoiding extensive price adjustments that result from market pressures on costs, economic regulation and subsidization are unsuitable tools. Economic regulation will be problematic, because it requires a better knowledge base and understanding of market outcomes than is generally available to policy makers. Subsidies will be effective only if correctly targeted, I Consumer price trends since the devaluation are discussed in Chapter 2. 109 and targeting is difficult. Subsidization may also be financially unsustainable given the Government's weak financial position. When it is demonstrable that clearly identified groups among the poor or vulnerable will suffer disproportionately from abrupt price increases, short term subsidization or regulation may be one way to ease the transition. For such measures to succeed, it is essential that: (i) they are clearly targeted; (ii) they are limited in time and scope; (iii) they ease but do not prevent transitions that will ultimately have to be made anyway; and (iv) the funding of any subsidy is assured from public funds. 8.16. Different problems apply to services, especially publicly-provided services. These are still under-funded and not to any substantial degree directed to the poor. Education and health services are perceived by the poor as woefully inadequate (Chapter 3). Addressing shortcomings in service delivery is critical for long-term poverty reduction. Better education for the children of the poor, and especially for girls, and sound basic health services are two of the highest-yielding investments that can be made. Moving ahead rapidly with further restructuring of public resource use has a high priority, in order to allow room for funding essential programs. For effective poverty reduction, a purposeful shift in public expenditure is essential. This shift is needed to free up resources for pro-poor development activities that will otherwise be crowded out by other expenditures. This crowding out is what happened in the past decade when rising wage costs for the civil service and high expenditures for university education were allowed to erode the resources for basic programs essential to poverty reduction: public health protection and basic health care, primary education, sanitation and water supply in low income areas. Buoying Labor Markets 8.17. Labor markets-especially urban labor markets-were already very precarious by 1993. In 1994, three actions reduced some components of labor demand further. These include: (i) the November 1993 cut in civil service salaries by 50-60%; (ii) a large reduction in the staffing of the civil service under consideration to reduce its burden on the economy; and (iii) restructuring or privatization of the public enterprise sector. All these actions were or are necessary for successful resumption of long-term growth, and to the extent that further similar actions are needed, they should not be deferred. Nonetheless, there may be transitional effects on the poor. 8.18. Reducing employment in the public sector does not have a direct poverty impact-most of those concerned fall well above the country's median income line. From 1985 to 1992, public sector salaries were preserved in nominal terms and increased in real terms as consumer prices fell. With the 1993 cuts in salaries and inflation in 1994, some low paid employees with large family responsibilities have moved closer to poverty, but for the most part, their income levels and income security place them well above most of the informal sector and they are not at risk to most of the systemic problems of poverty such as malnutrition, lack of education for their families or major unmet health needs. 8.19. Cuts in public sector employment have had an indirect impact which has been quite significant, given the structure of demand for goods and services in the informal sector, where the majority of the population subsists. Those affected are in the informal sector where the loss of demand for personal and domestic services has translated into further hardship. Many of those in poverty or at risk are women. 8.20. There is clearly an ongoing need to offset the decline in demand which civil service reductions will certainly entail. To boost the demand for labor, there are several options, all of 110 which should be pursued together. For conceptual simplicity, options are presented separately for the urban and rural areas. In reality this distinction is artificial. Many of the options refer to activities that are conducted in both urban and rural areas. In any case, urban and rural labor markets are closely linked, with labor moving relatively easily (at the margin) between the two. Box 8.5: Boosting Labor Demand 4 An increase in labor-intensive public works is the most immediate tool available to Government to generate additional labor demand. The volume of such works is limited mainly by implementation capacity. Where financing from local sources is a problem, it is likely that external donors can meet any financing needs. Public works can be expected to act quickly on labor demand and to have a strong multiplier effect. 4 There is some scope for boosting labor demand through restructuring Government procurement in favor of small domestic suppliers. Again, the volume of labor demand that would be generated by such an action is limited by the availability of public resources. In the past, there have often been extensive delays in paying suppliers, in large measure as a result of the fiscal crisis. Such payment delays would have to be avoided if new suppliers are to be encouraged to enter the market. 4 Promotion of informal enterprises by regulatory reforms and opening up access to credit and other business or financial services. For a credit scheme to be sustainable, it is likely that high interest rates would have to be charged, but this situation would still be preferable to the present situation where access to credit is almost nonexistent. The informal sector has access to skills and well-educated workers, as reflected in the high concentration of unemployment among high school and university graduates; making some of the complementary inputs available should bring a good supply response. 8.21. Urban labor demand. A boost in one sector of economic activity in urban areas will have two effects on the demand for urban labor. There will be a direct effect and an indirect multiplier effect as incomes are spent. Specific actions that have a direct and immediate impact on labor demand are relatively limited, because they mostly require public spending-something that Cameroon's present and prospective fiscal situation does not permit. But given that the multiplier effect of such actions is likely to be considerable, it is still important that they be undertaken where possible. In addition, there are a number of policy changes that might be considered that will result in greater labor demand over time. The more effectively such changes are implemented, the greater will be their effect on employment (Box 8.5). 8.22. Some steps will not create additional urban labor demand for those who most need it, and should therefore be avoided. Restoration of pay levels in the civil service will not reduce poverty. Nor will attempts to impose or raise minimum wages (SMIG). Both of these measures would primarily boost retums to those already working in the top-earning half of the labor market, while diverting public resources from poverty programs and social expenditures benefiting the poor. 8.23. Rural labor demand. There is also a need to raise the demand for and returns to rural labor. The increase in export demand has helped, initially in raising the demand for (mainly male) labor for such activities as clearing of abandoned coffee and cocoa trees, later on in raising the demand for (mainly female) labor for weeding and harvesting. For the effect to be sustained, the short term gains from rehabilitating abandoned trees will have to be augmented by investments in new plantings. This means that structural reforms in agriculture have to be carried through to their conclusion. The first year gains from the devaluation were only a first step (Box 8.6). III Box 8.6: Improving Agricultural Response to Price Changes Lowering the costs of the main agricultural "filieres" to allow the pass-through to producers of a higher proportion of crop value is a priority. Structural and regulatory reforms include: 4 eliminating parapublic monopoly control over coffee and cocoa marketing; 4 strengthening competition in marketing and building up the bargaining position of farmer groups; 4 lowering the costs of transport by maintaining roads better and by allowing complete competition in the sector; 4 eliminating monopolistic or oligopolistic practices in input supplies; 4 rapid implementation of UDEAC reforms to rationalize and lower the effective taxation of export crops. Differential Incentives and Capacities 8.24. The capacity of people to respond to opportunities arising from the devaluation and, prospectively from the completion of the adjustment process is significantly influenced by gender-based constraints. Imbalances in the gender division of labor, and in access to and control of economically productive resources define men's and women's differential economic opportunities and constraints. In Cameroon, poor farmers in general, and women in particular, have virtually no access to formal financial services. Significant gender differentials in earnings (Chapter 2), in time allocation (Chapters 2 and 4), in land ownership (Chapter 5), in schooling and literacy (Chapter 6), and in participation in public life (Chapter 7), are highlighted in this report. Women's central position in Cameroon's food sector (Chapter 4) needs to be juxtaposed against the systematic discrimination they face in accessing the basic technologies and resources, including human capital formation, which are required to function in an economically productive and efficient manner. Opportunities, constraints, incentives, and choices are gender-based, as it can be seen in Cameroon that gender is a central determinant of differential access to, use of, and control over economically productive resources, (land, labor, technology, capital, training, infor- mation). These differentials have marked implications for the productivity and dynamism of the economy where they contribute directly to a lower supply response to economic incentives than would be the case if these differentials were reduced. There is considerable evidence (especially in agriculture) of this "missed" economic potential (Box 8.7 and Henn 1988). 2 Lack of access to transport, inadequate skill-specialization, and time burdens also constitute gender-based labor supply constraints in urban areas and reduce women's productivity in urban informal sector enterprises. 2 For a broader synthesis of gender-differentiated economic incentives and capacity in Africa, see Blackden and Morris-Hughes 1993. 112 Bax 8.77: Differential Incentives: Rational Economic Woman! A study of the SEMRY rice project in Cameroon found evidence of household production decisions that led to sub- optimal production, and failure to maximize income. At issue is the compensation women received for their labor. There is frequent conflict between men and women over the division of income from rice production. Men traditionally have the right to income eamed by their wives, and income from rice sales was controlled by men, though women were expected to contribute their labor. Women's willingness to contribute labor to rice production depended on their being compensated significantly above what they could eam from low-retum subsistence crops. Otherwise, they chose to work on subsistence crops, even though this kept the family's total income below the potential maximum. The study illustrates both the shortcomings of the "unitary" household, and the cost in productivity and output of denying women the fruit of their own labor. Source: Adapted from Jones 1983. IV. piulic Finnce Policy 8.25. The Government's severe macroeconomic and fiscal constraints will define the parameters of what the public sector can feasibly undertake in support of poverty reduction. While it has been emphasized that poverty reduction will require partnership and resource mobilization of many actors, it is no less necessary for public finance policies, both on the expenditure and revenue side, to prioritize poverty reduction and to play a catalytic role in promoting poverty-reducing objectives. On the revenue side, there is a clear need to raise the tax effort, while ensuring greater distributional equity, to offset the risk, identified already in 1991, that the level of public revenues was so low as to threaten the Government's ability to maintain even the highest priority public expenditure (World Bank 1991 b). In the absence of progress on the revenue side, the burden of prioritizing and adjusting the focus of public expenditure within a reduced envelope, becomes even more acute. Reform of the revenue regime has particular importance as a core element of a medium-term poverty reduction strategy. The underlying message of the Bank's 1991 tax reform strategy remains valid (Box 8.8). 8.26. As argued in Chapter 1, there is a Box 8.8: Fiscal Strategy wide gulf between the spending patterns in the public sector and the development Fiscal strategy is central to the attainment of financial (poverty reduction) needs of the country. stabilization and sustainable growth in Camneroon. An This gulf must be narrowed. A substantial overhaul of the entire tax system is required to arrest the reorientation and restructuring of public deterioration in Government revenues, to correct the incentive environment for economic activity, and to expenditures within the available resource preserve the nation's critical resources. Piecemeal envelope is possible and should be changes or increases in tax rates will yield little revenue undertaken to strengthen the poverty focus of and only at the risk of introducing greater distortions public spending, as there is considerable which would threaten sustainability of revenue in the potential for redirecting available resources longrun. away from less developmentally focused Source: World Bank 1991b. activities. While it will be the task of the planned Public Expenditure Review (PER) to specify the overall allocations and sectoral targets, this assessment already suggests some critical areas that public policy should address, and where public expenditures should be reoriented. Though such restructuring is neither easy nor likely to occur rapidly, it is essential that a start be made in addressing the harsh choices and trade-offs necessary to ensure sharper focus of public expenditures on the critical needs of the poor. Unfortunately, trends in recent years have tended to show diminishing priority to key sectors 113 (such as education and health) relative to other public spending programs, as budgets have been cut back in response to the declining revenue base and economic situation. Restoration of these sectors to their high priority poverty reducing role is perhaps the most critical single action the Government can undertake to affirm commitment to poverty reduction. 8.27. Underpinning any reform of public expenditure policy is the need to re-establish an appropriate balance between salary and non-salary spending, so as to ensure that public personnel (especially those providing education and health services) have the necessary resources, materials, and equipment with which to carry out their responsibilities. Cameroon's financial partners should be willing to mobilize additional resources favoring poverty reduction objectives, commensurate with the Government's own tangible progress in restructuring expenditure and revenue policies toward poverty reduction. At the same time, the Government should make explicit its intention to favor those regions and population groups (notably in the northern half of the country), who heretofore have been less well served by public provision of basic services and infrastructure. Common to all social services is the need to restructure public spending allocations in favor of primary-level facilities and to restore the confidence of "clients" in the institutions themselves. In addressing each of the areas outlined below, there is considerable scope for promotion of public works which strongly favor labor-intensive techniques and practices, which rely on locally produced and available materials, and which can be accompanied by greater reliance on sub-contracting at the local level to small-scale entrepreneurs. Though the impact of such measures will be limited by the overall availability of public finance, the focus on labor-intensiveness in public spending can bring immediate and tangible benefits. 8.28. The following areas require increased emphasis in public spending programs: 4 Expansion of basic education (primary and middle levels). There needs to be a firm commitment to significant expansion of access to basic education, especially in the north of the country. Particular efforts will need to be made to reduce gender gaps in education, as female education has significant poverty-reducing externalities (Chapter 6). 4 Increasing access to quality basic health care, is a priority, with emphasis on vaccination, nutrition, and preventive programs. Those who do not have access to such services are almost all poor (mostly in isolated rural areas), and the allocation of human and financial resources needs to be restructured to reflect this need. Vaccination coverage remains very low for the country as a whole, and especially in the north, and should be a high priority. Nutrition interventions are also critical (Chapter 9). 4 Development of the small-scale food industry sector needs to be favored in agricultural, trade, finance, and urban sector investment and expenditure decisions, and this must be done in ways that explicitly take account of the central role of women. The role of the public sector is principally to ensure a market-friendly business environment, including through appropriate legal and regulatory reforms, and to provide limited but catalytic support to key services. Research and extension should give additional emphasis to staple food crops, to development and application of intermediate technologies, and to issues of processing and storage. Credit support should be channeled through local-level cooperative structures, assisted by a national agency (Chapters 4 and 9). 114 Rural road maintenance and rehabilitation have been identified by the poor as a critical priority need, as improvements in transport infrastructure will enable them to participate in the growth process. This must be associated especially with providing market access to isolated areas, strengthening producer/market linkages for a wide range of agro-food products, and improving or enabling greater access to basic social services. The poverty focus can be intensified through public procurement policies favoring small firms and labor-intensive techniques (Chapters 3 and 4). Investments in rural water supply, rural/community forestry, and the development and application of labor-saving technology for women (both for their productive and household responsibilities) assume particular importance once it is recognized that women's excessive workload constitute a binding constraint on poverty reduction. Investments which reduce the labor time constraint are therefore of the highest priority for poverty reduction, and should be treated accordingly in expenditure allocations. Here too, the focus on small-scale labor-intensive interventions can be maintained. V. Poverty MonttorIn,g 8.29. Caneroon has changed dramatically in recent years. Yet information on the situation in the country is very poor, especially trends in rural income, expenditure, and welfare. It is critical that CaTneroon strengthen and make systematic its data collection and analysis, not least to bring up-to-date knowledge of the country to bear on policy-making and project design, and to provide a more solid baseline for measuring poverty trends and policy impacts over time. 8.30. Adequate monitoring of poverty trends and the impact of economic policies on different socio-economic groups is a critical dimension of effective poverty reduction over time. Data for monitoring the socioeconomic characteristics of poverty and measuring the impact of particular programs or policies can be collected in a variety of ways, and can involve many actors, both at the central and local levels. Since many aspects of household well-being are not adequately represented by income or consumption-based indicators, particularly in a subsistence farming environment characteristic of rural Cameroon where only a small part of consumption is purchased, there is a need for a broader and more inclusive approach to poverty monitoring. Infant mortality, prevalence of nutritional deficiency diseases, failure of children to grow adequately or to gain weight, frequency of diarrhea as a result of poor hygiene, monotony of the diet and other food-related variables, are equally if not more significant indicators of poverty than cash income or expenditure. In this context, health facilities, research institutes, (i.e., the CRAN), observatories (OCISCA), NGOs, and specialized projects (e.g., FIMAC in food security), can make a major contribution to poverty monitoring and assessment of the impact of specific interventions. Several Bank-supported operations such as the Food Security and Health, Fertility and Nutrition projects, now include systematic collection, analysis, and mapping of selected indicators. 8.31. There are several instruments available to develop poverty monitoring capacity both in the short term and over time. First, it is critical that the Household Budget Survey (ECAM) be carried out in 1995/96. This will provide a basis for much more accurate measurement of consumption trends throughout the country, and how households have responded to the 115 economic crisis of recent years. It will also provide an important initial measure of the impact of the devaluation on household-level income and consumption. Details on proposals to develop statistical instruments for poverty monitoring are in Annex II. 8.32. To diversify and strengthen the basis for monitoring the many dimensions of poverty, other instruments can be developed. A second category of instrument is the participatory poverty assessment (PPA). It is recommended that the process of undertaking participatory poverty assessments, analogous to the PPA undertaken in the framework of this report, become an integral part of the Government's institutional approach to poverty reduction, and a core instrument of partnership with local NGOs and interest groups. At best, PPA's should be designed and implemented at the local level, so that local perceptions, preoccupations, and priorities can be articulated, consistent with the broader decentralization approach advocated both in this report and elsewhere. Third, much more systematic attention needs to be given to monitoring nutrition and health outcomes, based on revised/updated data and indicators. Fourth, Cameroon is well endowed with other survey and observation capacity (Cf. OCISCA) and this effort should be continued as part of the broader dialogue within various elements of Cameroonian society on appropriate development, growth, and poverty reduction policies. Fifth, it is important to continue to collect price, informal sector and labor survey data, to monitor closely trends in inflation and in labor force absorption and capacity. These will be important focal points for targeting consumption assistance at those most in need and at providing follow- up to the strategy articulated of promoting labor-intensive growth through a wide variety of instruments and operations. 8.33. The discussion of the poverty trends presented in this report has been especially instructive. To support broad-based dialogue on poverty issues and how to address them, support could also be given to institutionalizing the organization of an annual review of the Government's poverty reduction strategy, including monitoring of progress in meeting established targets and objectives. A report and workshop on poverty trends in the country, based on local-level assessments, surveys, and observatories, could be organized annually with a view to formulating a synthesis of results and findings of relevance to policymakers in monitoring trends and in defining poverty reduction measures. The task would include: (i) assessment of the needs of policymakers for relevant qualitative and quantitative information on the evolution of poverty trends within the review period; (ii) design of information collection programs linked to the requirements of the annual reports and to those of the poverty monitoring system; (iii) review of report production and assuring quality control; (iv) organization of the annual workshop, to involve both providers and users of poverty data; and (v) preparation, after the workshop, of a synthesis of results and findings of relevance to policymakers in defining poverty reduction measures. 9 Food secuiyt: BuildinW on Synergies i ntroductfon 9.1. At the core of the poverty reduction strategy advocated in this report is improvement in Cameroon's food security.' Food security is emphasized not only because it represents a systemic and pervasive poverty problem in the country, but also, and more importantly, because food security captures and can build on critical linkages and synergies among many sectors of activity (agriculture, environment and land use, transport, health, nutrition, and trade). Tackling food insecurity offers the potential for significant multiplier effects, all of which contribute to poverty reduction. At the same time, the cross-cutting nature of the issue, and the consequent need for concerted action involving collaboration and cooperation among a wide array of both public and private agencies, poses a considerable institutional challenge. This is an agenda around which to rebuild the essential partnership between the private and the public sectors, where the concerted energies of both will be needed if progress is to be made in reducing malnutrition and raising household food security. 9.2. Improving food security requires action on many fronts. This chapter will attempt to highlight the synergies by defining actions in a range of connected areas: agricultural production, development of the food industry, improving nutrition and supplementary feeding programs, addressing the time constraints of women through development of labor saving technology, and promoting the development of transport infrastructure in ways that support food security objectives. 9.3. The smallholder farm family should be at the center of the food security strategy, consistent with the broader objective of promoting greater decentralization and local autonomy in ways that make local institutions accountable for their resources and achievements. Staple food production should receive high priority and benefit from investments comparable with those allocated to export crops. The agriculture sector needs to be reoriented to supply national and regional markets and to serve its primary purpose: providing employment and food to the large segments of the population which cannot foreseeably be absorbed by the urban sector. Policies in this sector should focus heavily on ways to increase food production corresponding to urban demand and regional markets. Key actors in the strategy are a wide range of rural associations, cooperatives, village committees, encouraged and assisted by NGOs, regional awards, agricultural fairs, demonstration plots, regional campaigns, etc... Once resource allocation has been decentralized in an effective manner, the necessary instruments and vehicles Tbe concept of food security at the national cvel is used in this assessment in a broad sensc and refers to the entire food system (production, marketing, processing), which should be able to supply affordable and predominantly localy grown food to urban centers, to ensure adequate nutritional intake for all the population at all times, and even develop food exports. This has been to-date, and should continue to be, principally undertaken by small-scale (mostly female) producers and processors of cereals, roots, tubers and pulses. 117 for rural development are numerous. A critical component of the strategy is to develop and strengthen representative rural organizations incorporating all the key actors of the food chain. 9.4. For a richly endowed country such as Cameroon, food security is primarily determined by political will. There are no technical difficulties which could not be overcome to ensure adequate supply of locally-produced consumer goods for the domestic market; indeed Cameroon could even become a food-exporting country. This will be possible only if private investors can be confident that the Government's stated strategy will be implemented effectively and that their legitimate interests taken into account. It requires, among other measures, a marked reduction in the staff, and substantial improvement in the performance, of Government services. Once managerial improvements have been made, the development of an internal market can be promoted by strengthening the exchanges of goods and services between rural and urban communities. A determined reversal of past policy of favoring urban communities is now necessary to stop the growing impoverishment and food insecurity of a large number of rural dwellers. II. Food Securty: CoMerstone of Povedy Reduction 9.5. Poverty reduction in Cameroon can be greatly accelerated by stimulating agricultural growth in the traditional smallholder sector and the labor-intensive sectors of agro-industrial activities. The basis for a comprehensive food security strategy consists primarily of appropriate agricultural, small enterprise, and infrastructure policies, aimed at raising incomes and employment, and improving the efficiency of the entire food system, as outlined below. To make a major contribution to poverty reduction, the strategy should specifically benefit small-scale female farmers and all the rural actors of the food chain, since women constitute 80% of the labor force engaged in production, processing, and marketing of staple foods. Giving substantially greater priority to food cropping should not be interpreted as neglect of cash or export cropping. On the contrary, cash and export crops should be expanded primarily when they generate significant local employment and benefit low-income groups. In addition, specific interventions by state agencies, autonomous and decentralized social funds, and community organizations are suggested to provide protective measures to the poor and to constitute the embryo of a safety net against the most severe forms of poverty. A Food Security-LedAgriculture and Marketing Sector 9.6. The first element of a food security strategy is to upgrade the production-processing- marketing food chain. The devaluation of the CFA franc creates a favorable climate to improve food security because it provides strong incentives for production of local staple foods which use low quantities of imported inputs. The general decline in income is likely to increase the share of the food budget spent on staple foods by urban dwellers. This could, in turn, expand markets for a whole range of starchy staple foods to be manufactured from locally available grains, roots, and tubers, if appropriate supportive actions are taken by public services to attract investors into this sector. Roots and tubers, which languished for decades as a low research priority, should now receive much greater attention so as to benefit from scientific improvement. There is a need to redirect investments in research and extension, initially within the existing resource availability, to disseminate existing techniques and to overcome the obstacles encountered. To create the conditions for sustainable agriculture, research centers should be funded and equipped to promote a combination of traditional and improved techniques of mixed farming, crop rotation 118 and intercropping. Industrial fertilizers are not all that is available, and are not always the most appropriate for tropical soils. To promote soil fertility while raising markedly present productivity, intensive use of organic matter from animal husbandry, fish farning, and recycling must be promoted. Since poor farmers have smaller plots and less access to additional land, they would benefit particularly from productivity-promoting techniques that require few imported inputs. Increase in Food Production in a Sustainable Environment Box 9.1: Livestock Production and Utilization Mixed farming systems, combining crop and livestock activities, show promise in meeting environmental sustainability criteria. The incorporation of some livestock components (e.g. goats, pigs and poultry) into existing farming systems can be easier in farm operations managed by women because they tend to stay near the compound. Farm animals are an important link for recycling resources within the farming system and, in the case of draft animals, represent a major step towards farming system intensification and, through the provision of transport services, market orientation. Indeed, the largely unutilized potential for using animal traction in both farm operations and transport needs to be realized. This usually happens only with the emergence of continuous cultivation. Moreover, animal traction is generally adopted first to provide transport services, and only later for purposes of land preparation. Developing nrual transport infrastructure-roads, tracks and trails suitable for animal-powered traffic-is important to accelerate the incorporation of draft animals on a wide scale into rural economies and farming systems. Upgrading rural trnsport activities-the movement of farm inputs and output, fuelwood, construction materials and water-from headloading to animal-powered means, will greatly reduce the pressure on women's time. Source: Cleaver and Schreiber, 1994. 9.7. A significant increase in food production is a pre-requisite for food security in Camneroon. The combination of crop and livestock production in mixed farming systems (Box 9.1) should receive particular attention because such systems have been shown in Asia to be environmentally sustainable. Specific actions could include the following: 4 make accessible to small-scale female farmers a "productivity-package" including fertilizers, improved seeds, pest and weed control chemicals-this could be undertaken by experienced NGOs to ensure appropriate targeting and minimum leakage of the program, while facilitating access by poor farmers to these critical inputs; 4 promote the use of animal traction in agriculture and use of ox-carts for trade and transport of organic fertilizers; make accessible small equipment, agricultural and veterinary extension, and institutionalized support for harvesting, processing, and marketing; 4 promote livestock production through the provision of basic veterinary services, pasture management and credit marketing facilities; fees for services as well as taxes from cattle markets and slaughterhouses could be used to improve livestock production; 4 expand fish farming by South-South technology transfers with Asian countries where fish farming is operating successfully in similar ecological conditions (China, Vietnam and India in particular); such initiatives could be funded by loans to fish farmers associations following feasibility studies and study tours. 119 Food System Upgrade: Linking Producers to Processors and Consumers 9.8. The second key element of a food security strategy is the promotion of micro-enterprises in the agro-industrial sector (Box 9.2). In this intersectoral area (which combines industry, infrastructure and agriculture), there is a need to facilitate the emergence of profitable and labor- intensive processing and marketing activities, which combine linking producers to suppliers of inputs (including packaging, etc.); processing chains (peeling, grinding, pounding, fermenting, smoking, salting and sun drying); and marketing agents; producing animal feeds and recycling refuse in such activities as fish farming. Unlike export crops (e.g. coffee, cocoa, cotton, rubber), crops for national or regional food consumption (maize, rice, palm oil, peanut, sugar cane) are less sensitive to world market prices and can be processed by intermediate and small units which can be profitable, self-sustaining, and generate local employment. For activities such as vegetable oil, sugar extraction, and cereal milling, there are now low-cost, efficient processes and equipment adapted to most sizes of economic production schemes. Unfortunately, this type of information is seldom available to Cameroonian entrepreneurs and public institutions, who in the past have too often been advised to invest in over-sized capital-intensive plants. Public actions could be undertaken to disseminate information and facilitate appropriate technology transfer. Local chambers of commerce and regional centers for agricultural and food technologies could play a leading role in this area on behalf of interested investment companies. Box 9.2. Building a Cameroonian Food Industrial Sector One of the major challenges of the agro-food sector in the 1990s for countries such as Cameroon, Nigeria, Angola, Ivory Coast, Benin and others with similar ecological conditions, is to create a food industry able to supply regional markets with a range of local foods based on cassava, yams, maize, sorghum and millet. These products should compete successfully with imported wheat-based and rice-based products. Their main characteristics should be their acceptability by local consumers, low prices, and high preservation quality. The following types of actions should be undertaken: 4 support the development of a regional market for processed staple foods by providing small enterprise loans for their production; 4 assist in identifying national and regional markets. Export diversification should consider the potential regional markets for basic processed staple foods and not only distant European markets for luxury products; 4 engage in dialogue with the private sector on the creation of business support agencies to small and medium-scale food processing industries; 4 fnance work by the Food Technology Institute to develop and experiment with existing intermediate food technologies responding to the identified priorities. 9.9. The Government has seldom assisted groups of women or small-scale female entrepreneurs to have access to the type of intermediate technology which is required to strengthen the food production/processing/marketing chain. Women have shown their ability to adopt techniques which can reduce their workload, (e.g., mechanical grain milling, rice and groundnut dehulling) to make time for more profitable activities (trade, handicrafts, more elaborate street food preparation). When introducing new food processing technologies, public institutions should be careful not to reduce but rather increase the opportunities for female 120 employment in the commercial food sector. Small- scale production of starchy staple food to be sold by street vendors, or soap manufacturing, for example, could benefit from public loans as long as they generate more employment. Large-scale production of such commodities should be left to the private sector for funding. Financing mechanisms are a critical dimension of this support, and the FIMAC component of the ongoing Food Security Project provides an illustration of an approach that shows considerable promise (Box 9.3). Box 9.3: The micro-enterprise investment program (FIMAC) Under the FIMAC component of the Food Security Project, financial assistance, including group credits, has been made available for 1,143 micro-projects initiated by community groups. There are approximately 8,000 participating farmers of whom 45% are women. Financing usually does not exceed 60%/-70% of project costs submitted by groups, which are expected to finance the balance in cash and in kind. Repayment rates range from 63% to 100% with a national average of 85%. In two provinces where repayment rates were below 80%/o, further loans were suspended. Reimbursements are deposited in a local bank or post office account managed by the group's sponsoring organizations, so funds are retained at the local level. The program's objective is to allow local groups to manage project funds and minimize administrative costs and delays. Reimbursed funds are used to finance future investments by the same group or other groups. Negotiations have been initiated between FIMAC and the Cr6dit Agricole du Cameroun (CAC), to associate this institution with the management of a second round of loans made possible by the repayment of over CFAF 100 million from the first series of loans. If conducted successfully, this revolving fund, administered by CAC, would place federations of groups undertaking micro-projects directly in contact with financial institutions and strengthen markedly the sustainability of the program. III. Nutrition 9.10. Expanding nutritional interventions. To offset the high prevalence of Box9.4:-'EnrichingLives" micronutrient deficiency diseases, nutrition Micronutrient programs [are] among the most cost- interventions should have a very high priority effective of all health interventions. Deficiencies of just (Box 9.4). Reorganization, equipment and vitamin A, iodine, and iron could waste as much as 5 funding of national and provincial percent of GDP, but addressing them comprehensively and sustainably would cost less than 0.3 percent of GDP. institutions responsible for community Probably no other technology available today offers as nutrition are necessary to expand nutritional large an opportunity to improve lives and accelerate interventions. Research on the determinants development at such low cost and in such a short time. of maternal and child malnutrition, baseline surveys before interventions, development of techniques for monitoring and evaluation of the impact of nutrition interventions, and poverty alleviation projects are necessary. Institution-strengthening activities for the Center for Food and Nutrition Research (CRAN) have already been identified, which are designed to provide a foundation for effective decentralized programs aimed at addressing protein-energy malnutrition and nutritional deficiencies. The IDA-supported Health, Fertility and Nutrition (HFN) project, approved in March 1995, provides specific support to these activities, which include actions to integrate growth monitoring into a national surveillance program from data collected by 150 health centers, which are analyzed locally for self-evaluation of impact and then mapped at the central level. A further project component aims to promote breast feeding, iodization of salt, distribution of semi-annual mass dose of vitamin A, daily oral iron for pregnant women, mass campaigns in schools for eradication of intestinal parasites, as well as other special interventions for targeted groups or regions. These actions are included in the HFN project and could be expanded later to the national level. 121 9.11. Mobilization of awareness of the importance and benefits of nutrition interventions should also have a very high priority (Box 9.5). Other key nutrition interventions should include actions to: 4 promote the use of red palm oil to combat vitamin A deficiency-this could be undertaken as a pilot project by a small group of producers with credit support from FIMAC or other community-based credit schemes; 4 promote nutrition education in conjunction with income-generating projects-this could be implemented by combining the efforts of the Pilot Nutrition Education Project implemented by the Nutrition department of the Ministry of Public Health and the micro-project support provided by FIMAC; 4 promote urban gardening for vegetable and fruit production for home consumption, as this has been shown to have beneficial effects on income, social status of women, and household nutritional status. Box 9.5: "Enriching Lives": Priority Actions 4 Raising awareness of leaders of the need to take action against micronutrient malnutrition for economic, political, and humanitarian reasons. 4 Raising consumer demand for micronutrients from pharmaceutical supplements, fortified food, and unprocessed, micronutrient-rich food, using policy advocacy, social marketing, and commercial advertising. 4 Improving the effectiveness and coverage of pharmaceutical delivery systems using new outreach mechanisms, better logistics, and improved client counseling. 4 Maximizing industry compliance with fortification mandates through incentives to private industry and through building objective, competent, and respected regulatory enforcement institutions. 4 Designing and managing sustainable programs that are decentralized, enhance institutional capacity and human resources, and monitor performance through management information. Source: World Bank 1994g. 9.12. Supplementary feeding programs. In addition to its responsibility to correct the major weaknesses of the food system, the Government has a central role in ensuring food security of vulnerable groups. It can do so by addressing specific problems of food insecurity if identified groups through targeted policies and actions. It must do so on a limited scale and for localized conditions and without distorting the signals generated through a liberalized food commodity market. Introducing direct resource transfer to those identified as at most severe nutritional risk can be implemented through NGOs and community associations. The present economic crisis has aggravated the magnitude and severity of acute food shortage for large segments of the urban and rural population (Box 9.6). It has made even more necessary than in the past implementation of targeted supplementary feeding programs. Such programs could be run in conjunction with maternal and child health care centers and clinics in urban and rural areas. Registration and screening procedures must be designed without creating a costly and inefficient bureaucracy, but rather through NGOs and communities of beneficiaries themselves. 122 Box 9.6: Early Warning and Emergency Relief Northemn provinces are prone to droughts and food shortages. A food security strategy should include: + maintenance of a minimum food security stock managed and controlled in a decentralized manner at the local level; + improvement of the effectiveness of the existing early warning and emergency relief agencies; 4 identification and monitoring of the very poor requiring immediate or recurrent food subsidies; + preparation of a portfolio of large labor-intensive public works to be launched in areas of severe food insecurity, implemented progressively in a manner compatible with fiscal constraints. iV. Infrt nsO cArc 9.13. Poverty festers in isolation. Sound poverty-reduction policies require effective linkages between a country's peoples, particularly in as heterogeneous a nation as Cameroon. In this light, transport is a vital form of communication, and more than simply a means of moving goods and people. Here too, the synergies with food security, development of mixed farming systems, and the social sectors, are significant. The need for massive improvement in the road system of Cameroon, particularly in the South West and Eastern Provinces, and linking south to north, is urgent. 9.14. One of the key findings of this report is that adequate infrastructure is essential. The poor consider the inadequacy of transport infrastructure to be one of the major impediments to participation in economic development (Chapter 3). Developing appropriate infrastructure is a means of accomplishing many poverty-reducing objectives simultaneously. This is why appropriate infrastructure development is articulated as the third element of the food security strategy (para. 9.5 above), where the key objective would be to enhance production and to link more efficiently present and potential producers to markets. This requires maintenance and construction of roads, irrigation systems, processing plants, markets, and storage facilities. It also includes training centers and other educational facilities, water supply, and sanitation and health infrastructure in targeted food producing areas. Such infrastructure could be developed in part by local initiatives with the assistance of social funds and NGOs. Existing projects, such as the Food Security Project, include infrastructure components. 9.15. Infrastructure has positive linkages elsewhere too, notably with respect to access (in both urban and rural areas) to basic services, such as health care. The poor place considerable emphasis on adequate roads and transportation, and this alone should ensure that much higher priority be given to these sectors in allocating scarce public investment resources. 123 9.16. It is also critically important, in defining transport infrastructure interventions, to take explicit account of the gender dimension of transport responsibilities, especially in rural areas. As noted earlier (Chapter 5), women have principal responsibility for providing food and fuel (wood, water) for the household, and they provide around 80% of the labor for food production, processing, and marketing (Chapter 4). To carry out these responsibilities involves transport. It is therefore essential ensure that women are enabled to benefit from developments in transport technology and in the design, specification, and implementation of infrastructure investments. This means, among other things, overcoming entrenched cultural and attitudinal barriers (Box 9.7), so that women can use transport services in a manner commensurate with the load carrying responsibilities embedded in the gender division of labor. Approaches to linking transport sector investment more closely with the needs of (predominantly female) users, include developing "intermediate means of transport" (World Bank 1991 e). Bax 9.7: Transports of the Mind The most important stumbling block to improvements in rural household transport is attitudinal. The gender allocation of responsibility for transport activities within the household is drastically out of balance with the transport capability by sex. Ideological principles rather than pragmatism underlie the allocation. Load carrying is considered women's work, an essential duty of a wife under any circumstances. ... As long as the attitude that women are men's porters prevails, women are unlikely to benefit directly from any rural transport development programs. Until the question of how men's and women's transport activities can be redistributed more equally is faced, external transport interventions are destined to enhance men's mobility at the expense of women's welfare. ... It is in fact possible that men's enhanced mobility could provide them with the means of further distancing themselves, in this case physically, from the household production and maintenance work that their wives shoulder. Source: Bryceson and H-owe 1992. V. Labor-savitn Technolo,gy Development and Application 9.17. While it is appropriate to promote labor-intensive approaches, it is important to recognize that the labor issue is not the same for men and for women. More so than is the case for men, women must play their multiple roles simultaneously, and must seek to balance competing claims on their limited time. As seen in the time allocation data presented in Chapters 2 and 4, women are, if anything, overworked, and their multiple responsibilities oblige them to make harsh choices and trade-offs in their time allocation. If women are to play their central role in the food production, marketing and processing system, commensurate with the responsibilities embedded in the gender division of labor, it is essential that forceful efforts be made to develop appropriate labor-saving and energy-saving technologies. Access to labor-saving technology, across the full range of tasks (domestic and productive) that women perform, is absolutely critical and requires shifts in priorities and orientation of key institutions. It also requires parallel measures to ensure that technologies that are available (and that are developed) are not simply expropriated by men, thus adding to women's marginalization, immobility, and insecurity. Other measures that save time (or improve the productivity of time use), such as improved infrastructure, more efficient and accessible education, health, and financial services, improvements in accessibility and transport 124 of wood and water, assume considerable importance and urgency when seen from this perspective.2 Cameroon has long-standing examples of application of labor-saving technology (Box 9.8). Key measures to address the labor time burden of women include actions to: + promote household and community labor-saving technologies-local technical schools could include such activities in their curriculum and apply their techniques to their own communities using local resources and the support of specialized NGOs; 4 promote energy-saving technologies, particularly in northem provinces where fuelwood is available in limited quantities and expensive for city dwellers; private initiatives to sell trees with a reasonable profit have been successful and could be further supported by public institutions with credit facilities and technical support; 4 promote improved stoves and the creation of fuelwood plantations to reduce pressure on limited forest resources; several NGOs have now accumulated expertise in this area for Sudanian and Sahelian countries, and they could participate in regional environmental programs receiving international funding; 4 regional centers for appropriate technologies, run by associations of progressive farmers, assisted by NGOs, could fund their research and innovations by providing services at moderate cost, including locally made equipment and the corresponding training. Initial loans and grants for three year operating costs would be necessary. Box 9.8: Technology, Women's Time, and Productivity Hand-operated cornmills were introduced into Cameroon in 1958. By 1961, membership in the societies founded by women to own and operate these mills numbered 30,000. With the time thus saved, the women turned to a variety of community and individual projects. They built roads to their villages so that trucks could take out their produce; they piped water from small streams into storage tanks to provide water in the dry season; and they built meeting houses in central locations where they could hold classes throughout the year. They learned how to look after their children, to cook and make soap, to read and write and to do simple arithmetic. They fenced in their farms and set up cooperative shops. Above all, they learned how to improve their farming techniques. Source: Cited in Cleaver and Schreiber 1994. 2 Time allocation data suggest that effective access to social services and amenities is likely to be as much a functioo of time availability of household members (given both the composition of the household and the gender division of labor) as it is a function of the distance involved. This is an area requiring considerable further rcsearch and analys 10 Sustainbilit: Elements of A Lon8j-Tenr Aqenda I. introduction 10.1. There is no quick fix for long-term poverty (Box 10.1). Issues of sustainability must dominate any long-term strategy. For Cameroon, economic policies are important but not overriding. Investment in human resources is at least as important if significant inroads are to be made in the long-term health, nutrition, and education status of the poor. Raising the economic and social status of women is particularly crucial. Environmental issues, and evolving patterns of land tenure and use, which affect the sustainability and the quality of the environment in which the poor live, and the capacity of the poor to earn a livelihood, will assume particular significance. The quality, predictability and transparency of public administration are essential dimensions of sustainable poverty reduction. The actions proposed in this chapter are intended to have an impact in the medium to long term, but the need to initiate action on them is no less urgent. 11. Sustatntng Povert RedCtiown in the LonJ-Term 10.2. Economic policies. For the longer term, raising the productivity of the poor is the key to them growing out of poverty. All of the measures mentioned in Chapter 8 have a place in a long- term strategy. In addition, there is a need to encourage investment in labor-intensive activities, both urban and rural, to ensure that the growth of demand for labor can be sustained. Progress must also be made in addressing the complex set of measures linked to building industrial profitability and boosting investor confidence. 10.3. Many factors determine investment levels in a country. For Cameroon, with its rich natural and human resources, the underlying basis for rekindling investment is strong, especially in rural areas. Improvement of competitiveness-if it can be maintained-has removed a major obstacle. What is now needed to sustain higher investment levels is a combination of economic incentives and a social setting-socio-economic, legal, administrative-that is conducive to growth. 10.4. Putting in place the right set of poverty-reducing economic measures can best be done as an open and participatory process: by analysis and debate of issues that face the poorest groups, consensus on programs of action, and mobilization of all concerned partners to act. Poverty is concentrated in the rural areas and the urban informal sectors. Longer term measures might therefore focus mostly on: 4 programs and policies to increase the productivity of the very poorest farmers and of those who do not currently have access to land; this should focus on giving access to 126 economic resources to the very poorest farmers, including expanded access to credit, secure land tenure, and the provision of support services; Box 10.1: Growing Out of Poverty - How Long Will it Take? Sustained economic growth is generally considered a sine qua non for long-terrn poverty reduction. How much growth will be necessary for Cameroon to eliminate poverty? There is no one answer. At worst, income growth may not be a relevant measure. Low incomes only partly capture the plight of the poor. Other dimensions-food insecurity, low nutrition standards, poor health status, inadequate education, social exclusion-may so handicap the poor that they are unable to participate in economic growth. If so, it will be impossible to grow out of poverty unless these other dimensions are addressed in parallel. Inequalities in income distribution reduce the extent to which economic growth translates into better living standards for the poor, and Cameroon continues to experience marked inequalities. In 1983/84, 40% of Cameroon's population were below the CFAF 78,000 poverty line (Chapter 2). In the decade since then, average private consumption per capita has fallen by one-third in real terms. If the decline was proportionately shared, about 65% of Cameroonians would be below this line today. For those already below the line at the beginning of the period, their immersion in poverty would be deeper. If future growth is evenly distributed, so that the incomes of all-rich and poor-grow at the same rate, how fast will poverty be reduced? GDP growth at 5% would allow personal consumption to rise by 2-3% annually. At this rate, it will take 17 years to get back to a poverty incidence of 40%/o, and about 50 years to reduce the incidence to 10Y/. There is no assurance that growth will be neutrally distributed: in the 1960s and 1970s, growth was not neutral and rural areas were left behind. Under such circumstances, reaching even a 40%/o poverty incidence would take unacceptably long. If growth can be pro-poor, so that consumption of the poor grows 2% faster than the average, poverty reduction would be much quicker. Incidence could be lowered to 40°/O in only 10 years and to I 00/o in just over 25 years. The difference between neutral and pro-poor growth is a full generation. Another way of exploring how long it will take for growth to reduce poverty is by speculating on the rate of growth of labor demand. In the 1970s, labor supply and demand moved in parallel, but in the 1980s labor demand lagged and unemployment emerged, especially in urban areas (Chapter 6). How fast and for how long would the economy have to grow for labor demand again to bring rising real incomes for the poor? If labor supply grows in line with the working age population-about 2.7% annually-and even if employment were to increase in line with GDP at 5% a year, implying a degree of labor-intensiveness matched by few countries in the world, it would still take until 2010 to bring the employment situation back to its 1983 balance. In most growing economies, labor demand increases less rapidly than GDP because of technical change and efficiency gains. For Caneroon, it will be necessary to make growth much more labor-intensive to give the poor a full share in growth. If it is to make growth even more pro-poor and labor intensive, so that labor demand rises faster than GDP, there can be a rapid tightening of the labor market, rising employment levels and buoyant real wages. 4 programs and policies to reach out to presently neglected groups in the rural areas- especially women-with agricultural, financial and other services; 4 efforts to increase the productivity of those working in the urban infornal sector. 10.5. The poorest farmers are often women, often producing only food crops, and presently benefiting very little from improved inputs, Govermment services, or public investments in agriculture. In the medium and longer term, there needs to be a search for ways to reach this group through pricing policies, public investrnent choices, support services for agriculture and off-farm employment generation. As indicated in Chapter 9, sustained attention to development of the food agro-processing sector provides an opportunity to address many dimensions of 127 poverty at once: women's empowerment, employment (especially of women) in rural areas, nutritional status, and ultimately, health and welfare. 10.6. Labor-intensive public works. To create direct demand for labor there is great scope for increasing the volume of labor intensive public works to improve urban and rural infrastructure. Cameroon's urban areas are presently suffering from a backlog of neglect, with local streets, drains, schools, clinics, markets, bus stations, and public buildings all in need of better maintenance and repair. By and large, the work needed to improve public infrastructure is not difficult technically. In almost all cases, the most economic technologies are labor-intensive. 10.7. The task of maintaining public infrastructure is neither highly technical nor unfamiliar to many local Government officials. The declining tax base has greatly reduced the resources of central and local Governments. Restoring the resource base at both levels is a key step in allowing maintenance to resume. As the resource base is rebuilt, it is necessary to ensure that maintenance takes place in a way that maximizes its poverty reduction impact. Experience in other countries and within Cameroon suggests that having work implemented by contractors from the informal sector is an effective approach. 10.8. Focus on human resources. It is important that policy makers draw on the complementarities between economic growth and human resource development. Economic policies provide opportunities for economic growth, either by stimulating demand or by easing constraints to supply. Whether the poor are able to take up these opportunities depends in large measure on the attention that has been paid to human resource development. If people are healthier they are able to work more and harder. If they are educated, they have a base of knowledge that they can apply in a range of economic activities. If investments are made in the health of mothers and children, fertility rates are lower. Educating girls is a critical priority for Cameroon, especially in the north, where gender gaps in education are high. The benefits of educating girls are both universally recognized (Box 10.2) and have particular pertinence for Cameroon, as evidenced in the CDHS data for Cameroon (Chapter 6). This suggests that affirmative and pro-active promotion of female education is one of the highest-yielding investments Cameroon can make in its future. 10.9. The linkages and complementarities are extensive. They have been observed in countries around the world. It is essential that Cameroonian policy makers recognize these linkages in formulating their own approach to poverty reduction. The key points for a longer-term program might be: 4 Every child should receive at least a basic education (primary and middle levels). Not every child yet receives a basic education (especially in the northem parts of the country), and hence this has a higher priority for poverty reduction than expansion of higher education. Even after universal basic education has been achieved, it may still be better to use resources for upgrading the quality of basic education rather than certain expenditures such as university scholarships which have minimal poverty impact. 4 Access to reasonable quality maternal and child health care is a priority, with emphasis on vaccination, nutrition, and preventive programs. Those who do not have access to such services are almost all poor (mostly in isolated rural areas). Moreover, lack of access to services may well perpetuate a cycle of poverty in many families, with children 128 falling ill or dying needlessly, women bearing more children than they would if children survived, and ill health making mothers less able to work in the fields. 4 Improvement of public health conditions is essential, especially in the congested urban areas where the urban poor mostly live. Unhealthy living and working conditions are an important impediment to poor people's ability to work, holding them in poverty unnecessarily. Efforts to improve basic sanitation (waste collection services have lapsed in Yaounde, for example) and assure uncontaminated water supplies have a high and long term pay-off in reducing poverty. Box 10.2: Investing in Girls'Education Economics, with its emphasis on incentives, provides a useful way to understand why so many girls are deprived of education and employment opportunities. And concrete calculations demonstrate that there are enormous economic benefits to investing in women. Over time, the importance of female education will dwarf that of many of the financial issues we more routinely address. Our analysis leads to four conclusions. First, there is a horrifying problem of excess female mortality in many developing countries. It is but the most obvious manifestation of a much broader problem of female deprivation. Second, female deprivation results from a vicious cycle where girls are not educated because they are not expected to make an economic contribution to their families, an expectation which represents a self.fulfilling prophecy. Third, increasing educational opportunities for girls offers the best prospect for cutting into this vicious cycle. Increasing outlays directed at educating girls would yield enormous economic and social benefits. Fourth, the share of the world's girls who go to school can be increased at a relatively modest cost. Over time, increases in girls' education have the potential to transform societies. When girls are not educated, their labor has little economic value outside the home. They are forced to marry young and are unable to stand up to their husbands. They have more children than they really want and are unable to invest heavily in each child. Poverty is perpetuated. When girls are educated, they have economic opportunities. Their families have more of a stake in their survival and their success. They marry later and are able to take part in household decisions. They choose to have fewer children and can invest more in the health and development of each child. Their daughters and sons have expanded horizons. And often they escape from poverty. Source: Summers 1992. 10.10. In many respects, these key issues are simple. They do not pose difficult technical problems, and working solutions are already in place in many parts of the country. What is now needed above all else is a consensus that such needs are too important to go unmet and a willingness to devote time, energy and resources to their solution. 10.11. Mobilizing the financing. In parallel with efforts to put in place the right economic policies, mobilization of resources for investment needs to be addressed. Most resources will necessarily be of Cameroonian origin, and this is appropriate. Investment decisions made locally and using local resources are likely to be directed to the most pressing local concerns. External resources, however, also have an important role in increasing the overall volume of investment and in introducing partners or technologies not readily available in the country. Foreign direct investments could again reach significant proportions-particularly in agro-processing industries and in the petroleum sector. But the most important source of funds could come from the Cameroonian middle class and business community-initially through halting capital flight, and eventually through a reflow of the capital which was transferred abroad prior to, and in anticipation of, the devaluation. External assistance from multilateral and bilateral donors and NGOs can provide much of the financing to rebuild basic public and social services. 129 10.12. The extent of private and public capital inflows is an intangible: the key determinant is Government's credibility and transparency in economic management. The swiftness and determination with which the Government carries out the current and future economic reform programs will be the important factor in (re)-establishing its credibility. Equally important, over a period of time, external aid/financial flows will only be forthcoming if donors perceive that the Government is taking decisive and far-reaching measures to address the main problems that aid is targeted at, narmely the sustained improvement of economic and social conditions and the reduction of poverty. III. Inst itl(tiongl Dimensions of Poverty RedMction 10.13. One of the key policy conclusions emerging from the PPA-the process of listening to the concerns of poor people-is that there is a need for legitimate, effective local institutions which are accountable to the people they serve. This will entail considerable delegation of authority, and devolution of both decision-making and budget, from the center to the localities. It will mean greater power-sharing between local public development bodies, particularly schools and health facilities, and the communities they are meant to serve-in the forn of buttressing PTAs, NGOs, and community councils. Public servants must gamer respect from the people in order to serve them effectively. To do so will require improving remuneration over time, providing training to front-line public servants-teachers and health workers-and providing improved monitoring and control over public services to strengthen management and performance. Further institutional actions are outlined in Box 10.3. 10.14. General management improvement in Government could be considered a necessary precondition for successful poverty alleviation. While it might be possible to adopt an enclave approach by improving management in those services most critical to the poor, in the present situation where public confidence in institutions (both public and private) is extremely low, more impact could be achieved through a broad-based effort to restore public and donor confidence. Armong the actions the Government could take would be to facilitate broader dialogue with civil society on the opportunities and constraints facing the country, including those defined by the external economic environment over which Cameroon has no control, and which provide the backdrop against which difficult policy choices are made. The Government needs to make explicit efforts to strengthen the ethic of public service by taking clear and unambiguous measures against corruption at all levels and at the practice of payments demanded by officials for services in the field-this need not be a sweeping national program, but it should be a convincing effort that demonstrates the requirement of an ethic of publ.c service on the part of public sector employees. The Government also needs to develop culturally-adapted means of putting service delivery at the forefront of public agencies' work programs, which would also focus on the poor as their "client"; this might include programs analogous to the quality-circles which have been successful in Burkina Faso, and which build on existing social solidarity. 10.15. Information/Education/Communication (IEC) campaigns are an important dimension of poverty reduction. The more people know of the issues they must address, and of the technologies and support available, the better they will be able to tackle them. This assessment has identified a range of topics which should be the central themes of IEC campaigns. Government and NGO projects could fund public information campaigns on poverty issues, using local languages, which: 130 4 promote the food security/growth agenda: dissemination of intensive cultivation methods, appropriate technology (including domestic labor- and energy-saving technologies) for food crop production, animal traction, and soil fertility; 4 promote the human resource development agenda: benefits of girls' education, health and hygiene, family planning, and "responsible parenthood"; 4 promote the land use/management agenda: educate the population in forest regeneration, consistent with the recommendations included in the Tropical Forest Action Plan; promote legal literacy (especially for women) with respect to land rights. Box 10.3: Institutional Measures for Poverty Reduction Specific institutional interventions in favor of the poor could include: 4 mainstream concem for poverty in key sectoral programs rather than regarding one specific project or program, such as a social fund or SDA project, as the only or principal mechanism for dealing with poverty; 4 regularize the practice of consultation with the poor on national programs; a good start was made with the National Environmental Management Plan workshops held in Maroua (Box 10.4), and this model could be adapted for other programs; 4 capitalize on the interest in poverty which was shown by local officials when they were involved in consultations such as the NEMP and the PPA; form Government!NGO/community association working groups at the local level to decide on local poverty priorities and solutions; 4 carefully monitor implementation of health decentralization to see effect on poor, and make changes necessary to ensure that the decentralized system does in practice serve the needs of the poor; 4 as part of the civil service reform process, and to support devolution to the local level, re-examine the policies of personnel allocation in the public sector, which at present frequently assign people to regions other than their own (Chapter 7), in order to strengthen institutional performance and accountability. 4- to enhance credibility, especially of public sector institutions, a number of strategically located demonstration projects in key areas-education, public health, employment generation-should be implemented so that people may see evidence of efforts to reduce poverty-nothing dispels despair like visible, demonstrable success. IV. Enivtronmetal and Natural Resource Man ement Policies 10.16. Management of the environment and natural resources requires the active partnership and collaboration of many actors. The concern for decentralized decision-making was reinforced at the Kribi workshop: local communities need to have more say in defining who exploits the country's forest resources, who benefits from the exploitation, and on what terms. Sustainability and livelihood preservation are critical dimensions. The process of formulating the National Environmental Management Plan (NEMP) provides a valuable illustration of broad-based consultative processes at work in Cameroon (Box 10.4). There is a need to articulate coherent land use and land management policies, aimed at ensuring appropriate and sustainable uses of land for poor women farmners in particular. Cameroon must also tackle the task of providing transport infrastructure, considered by the poor (Chapter 3) as being of the highest priority, 131 while guarding against the uncontrolled environmental degradation that has tended to accompany opening up of land areas to logging, farming, and other forms of exploitation (Chapter 5). Box 10.4: National Environmental Management Plan Formulating the National Environmental Management Plan is no longer the concern of national and international experts alone, it is done with the help of a new brand of experts: the people who make their living from the environment. The consultative process for the NEMP could provide a model for other policy formulation exercises which would set out national goals, and allow for locally appropriate strategies for reaching them. The goal of the participatory approach is to involve agriculural producers, pastoralists, private sector, local communities and NGOs. More than 15% of the total participants were women, and they contributed actively in discussing all issues and formulating strategies. The first step in the process was convening a National Consultation of more than 200 people from the public sector, the private sector, NGOs and other associations, local councils, universities and research institutions, and development agencies. A second step was to provide public information as widely as possible, a step which MINEF staff view as a prerequisite for participation but which is often neglected by program planners. Regional consultations and planning workshops followed, and the first was held in Maroua. The final product was an analytical report summarizing the main recommendations and results. Proceedings were broadcast daily by radio and television. During a six day follow-up workshop, participants used the input of the larger meeting to identify priority actions and strategies for each sub-region or ecological zone. Using a target oriented planning workshop method, they worked out concrete intervention for each area. These will be used by project specialists to develop project files which will be integrated into the first draft of the National Plan. The end result is a decentralized, participatory approach to planning and elaboration of the NEMP. A final National Meeting will be convened to give feedback on the draft, and to review and finalize the NEMP. Source: UNDP_GEF Project Unit. 10.17. Following are key measures to address some of the complex environmental and natural resource management issues in Cameroon. Environmental management was also the subject of recommendations from the Kribi Workshop (Box 10.5). Given the complexity of the issues and the "nexus" of interactions with poverty and development, a solid and effectively implemented program for environmental education, both at the formal and informal levels, is required. + Appropriate Natural Resource Management Plans. In the past, land use planning was conceived as a technical and administrative exercise, with little attention paid to the political conflicts inherent in competing demands for forest resources and the economic incentives governing their use. Conflicts between various users, especially for common and public lands, need to be resolved through negotiation, and agreements translated into relatively simple rules to be respected by all parties involved if the land use plans are to have any practical value. Appropriate land planning and forest preservation, based on a holistic approach, will help preserve land productivity, contributing to poverty reduction and greater stability in rural communities. A land use plan should identify management units to be set aside for the protection of specific species or habitats, to be managed as much as possible with the involvement of the surrounding communities (Sharma et al. 1994). 4 Capacity Building and Human Resource Development. Implementing forest policy and other NRM reforms will require significant changes in the mandates and organizational structure of forestry departments and other Government agencies, and better incentives 132 will be needed to improve staff performance. Capacity building and human resource development will be needed to ensure that redefined institutional mandates can be fulfilled. Strengthening forest sector institutions has to be viewed as part of a larger process of systemic civil service reform, including incentives, rule of law, and budgetary allocations. These institutions must have the budgets necessary to perform their duties effectively, accountability to ensure responsiveness to the needs of local and regional interests, balanced with long-term sustainable development; and transparency to enhance sector governance. Government forestry agencies will need to maintain a high profile in management of tropical forests for environmental purposes. New institutional mandates should be clearly defined and realistic, focusing on policy analysis, planning, and extension functions to achieve the full range of socioeconomic and environmental policy objectives set for the forestry sector. 10.18. The studies program planned under the GEF-supported Biodiversity Conservation and Management Project addresses topics that are of particular importance in this context: the economic impacts of conservation activities; social impacts of different conservation regimes; sustainable use levels of natural resources such as wildlife and non-timber forest products; and, not least, studies of formal and customary law to assist communities in preparing and enforcing appropriate rules for the management of communal resources. As indicated in Chapter 5, there are significant overlaps with poverty concerns that need to be integrated into the design and implementation of these studies. Box 10.5: Forest Management Involve local authorities (municipalities) in defining bidding documents and contractual arrangements in their zone; 4 Decentralize monitoring of surveillance of contractual agreements to the local authorities. 4 Review concessions policy to promote biodiversity protection. 4 Implement actions to reduce consumption of fuclwood, through diffusion of improved stoves and development of alternative energy sourceshis could be carried out by MINASCOF, which is already coordinating an appropriate technology project in Maroua in which improved energy stoves are being manufactured. Source: Recommendations of Kribi Workshop. V. Land Tcnure 10.19. Increasing land scarcity, changes in the patterns of land ownership and use, and the co- existence of multiple legal and customary frameworks for addressing land issues, present a critical long-term challenge for Cameroon. As argued in Chapter 5, there is a risk of growing landlessness among the poor, and with it an incapacity to sustain livelihoods. Land policies need to be grounded in Cameroon's very diversity, and build at least initially on explicit recognition of existing customary arrangements. This can be achieved if local institutions are identified as providing the framework for land administration at the local level. The principal task of the Government would be to define the general policy framework and to determine the extent to which local institutional and regulatory frameworks are compatible with its wider vision for the 133 sustainable management of natural resources. Specific issues and operational parameters would be developed by the local communities themselves. 10.20. Recognition of local institutional and regulatory frameworks should not be construed as uncritical validation of local practices. Sometimes, these might be quite oppressive and contain structural inequities which reinforce the hardships of the poor and other vulnerable groups (such as nomadic herders). What is needed is to empower the more vulnerable groups, especially marginal and poor groups, to participate in articulating new linkages between resources management and access rights for those who use, but do not own, the land. 10.21. Decentralization of decision-making Box 10.6. Land Tenure and daily administration of land matters to the local and regional levels would further + Define use rights for users of land, to help poor strengthen accountability and stakeholder people escape from the uncertainty of their participation in regulating land use rights. The existing use rights, which in turn limits their administrative responsibility in daily land investmwnts be thof suiular benefit to woaen, management should be devolved onto elected who are victims of insecurity with respect to land municipal officials, as it is at this level that the tenure arrangements. specificity of various tenure systems can be properly understood and adapted to meet the 4 The land tenure regulatory framework should needs of the poor and other vulnerable groups. control land use, even of those who have Direct stakeholders should include not only ownership title, to preserve biodiversity. those who own land, but all those who hold 4 Harmonize land law and forest law. and use land to support their livelihood. Policies regulating tenure will vary from one Source: Recommendations of Kribi Workshop. region to another to meet the physical, social, and enviromnental dimensions of different tenure arrangements. If participation is to be meaningful, it should entail the transfer of responsibility to the stakeholder groups by reinforcing the capacity of local communities to administer land. 10.22. Proposals were made at the Kribi workshop to address land issues (Box 10.6). Several measures can be taken by the Government to address the issues of land ownership and land use rights raised in this assessment. These include: 4 Urban Land. Since an important market has developed for urban and peri-urban lands, the Government should define certain priority urban areas for systematic identification of rights, cadastral survey, and registration. This will help planners and developers to provide the needed basic infrastructure before there is spontaneous settlement of land by urban squatters. Land registration should initially be limited to urban areas where speculation in land has left existing tenure arrangements in a state of flux. Land titling schemes in urban and peri-urban areas are a financially sustainable process which should allow the Government to obtain fiscal revenue from property tax. This is an easy tax to administer because the property can identified and a property transfer tax can be levied when land transactions are undertaken. This could also be an important element of the overall tax reform effort aimed at raising revenue, while contributing to improving the progessivity of the tax system (World Bank 1991 b). 134 4 Women's and Herders' Rights. The special case of the use rights of women and the grazing rights of herders should be given protection by refusing to validate any individual exclusionary claims over usufructs. Recognized communal farm lands and grazing areas should not be the subject matter of any application for individual title, but should be recognized as the commons of the communities which administer them, without undermining the authority of local arrangements for their tenure. 4 Family Land. Without prejudice to their rights of access as members of the family, the urban elite should only be given legal titles over family land if there is proof of effective occupation, which should be a pre-requisite for private registration of group-held lands, especially in rural areas. To mitigate the inequalities that market mechanisms might produce, the registration of large land tracts in rural areas should be permitted only when there is a specific investment plan which will create employment in the area and directly or indirectly restore the incomes and livelihoods of those who might lose usufruct rights. In this context, specific group-held lands (such as ancestral graves and sacred groves), which carry spiritual connotations, should not be the subject of private land holding under state law. 4'- Further Research. The different modes of acquisition of customary rights should be the subject of further analysis in order to understand more clearly the implications of the exclusion of some groups for sustaining the livelihood of the poor. This analysis should address the vexing question of how to reconcile the preferences for flexibility in use rights under customary law (which do not change the nature of claims on land) with the need for longer-term, stable investment, which new modes of land use such as tree planting represent, to strengthen the productive capacity of the land over time. The studies planned under the GEF-supported Biodiversity Management Project (para. 10.18 above) are also highly pertinent in this context. VI. Concus on: Back to FandAmntcs 10.23. The problems of systemic and pervasive poverty presented in this assessment exceed the capacity of the Government alone, or of any other isolated actor, to address. Creating an "enabling environment" for poverty reduction in Cameroon will require forceful and inclusive policies and institutional reforms, mobilizing all civil society, with the Government playing a catalytic, policy-defining, and facilitating role. A prerequisite, therefore, is the need for the Government to demonstrate a strong and unequivocal commitment to poverty reduction. The poverty reduction strategy outlined in this assessment defines specific ways in which this commitment can be shown. 10.24. There is a need for consensus around some guiding principles: addressing poverty is of the highest priority; there are no exclusions for reasons of gender, ethnicity, language, or location; and the energies of public, private, and external sectors need to be blended in a renewed partnership. The following principles, which cut across sectors and institutions, must underpin and be integral to the poverty reduction effort in Cameroon: 4 Improving institutional performance. There must be a readiness to address the pervasive problems of corruption and mismanagement, including performance-based 135 rewards and sanctions, aimed at re-establishing confidence and trust in both public and private institutions at all levels. Enhancing the quality, predictability and transparency of public administration is an essential dimension of sustainable poverty reduction. Sound management of available resources is a far more important issue than lack of resources. Problems of overlapping responsibilities and weak coordination, which have particular relevance in the areas of environmental management and transport, need to be addressed. Performance improvement needs to be coupled with renewed focus on service to the poor. Giving voice to the poor, strengthening local initiative and participation. Listening to the concems and priorities of the poor needs to be a central component of the poverty reduction strategy. Sustainable poverty reduction must build on the initiative of the poor, with the Govemment serving in a facilitating role. Key elements of this approach are effective deconcentration (and where appropriate, decentralization) to the local level of decisions, resource mobilization, management, and accountability, as this, more than anything, will help to unleash the dynamism evident in many parts of Cameroon. Putting in place the right set of poverty-reducing measures can best be done as an open and participatory process, through analysis and debate of issues that face the poorest groups, through building consensus on programs of action, and through mobilization of all concemed partners to act. Institutionalizing participatory approaches, such as the PPA process and the National Environmental Management Plan, show promise in helping Cameroon to address the strengths, while reducing the risks, of managing its own exceptional diversity. Reducing regional disparities. Cameroon's past economic and social development has been characterized by marked regional stratification both in income and economic opportunity, and in provision of social services and economic infrastructure. Commitment to implement policies specifically aimed at reducing regional inequalities, in part through targeting public sector investment and service provision explicitly toward those regions which are comparatively less well served, is essential. As the housing, illiteracy, and malnutrition indicators suggest (Annex V), highest priority must be accorded to the Adamaoua, North, and Far North provinces in targeting reoriented public spending programs in the social sectors and in provision of basic infrastructure. Reducing gender disparities. Structural differences in gender roles and capacities constitute a major obstacle to development and poverty reduction in Cameroon. Women's significant, though undervalued, role in economic production and their pivotal position in household management and welfare are central to the country's economic development and social survival. Reducing the systematic discrimination against women in access to economically productive resources (especially land and financial services), lowering their excessive labor time burdens through development of and improving access to domestic and productive labor-saving technologies, and affirmatively improving their access to basic social services, need to be at the core of the country's poverty reduction strategy if full supply response and economic growth potential are to be realized. The focus on improving food security (Chapter 9), predicated on the central role of women, strongly supports this objective. Focus on jobs. The challenge of absorbing Cameroon's rapidly growing labor force is both massive and urgent. There is a need to encourage investment in labor-intensive 136 activities, both urban and rural, to ensure that there can be sustained growth in demand for labor. Measures could include: labor-intensive public works; restructuring Government procurement in favor of small domestic suppliers; and promotion of informal enterprises by regulatory reforms and by opening up access to credit and other business or financial services. The food security strategy is also employment-intensive and would contribute in this way to improving labor absorption over time. There is also potential for increasing employment in forest-related industries without increasing the annual timber cut, by means of implementing a forest fiscal system which promotes efficient local processing. Susinabk deveopment If Caineroon is to lay a firm foundation for sustainable development, a start must be made in addressing the longer term systemic issues related to land use and environmental management outlined in this report (Chapter 5): attention must be paid to land tenure, law reform, and environmental management issues, without which economic growth, agricultural supply response, food security, and poverty reduction, cannot be sustained. ANNEX I Statistical AnneX List of Tias 1. Summary Social Indicators for Cameroon 2. Revenues, Expenditures and Fiscal Balances, 1984-94 3. Expenditure Trends by Major Category, 1989/90-1994/95 4. Changes in Volume of Cash Crops Produced, 1983-1993 5. Trends in Food Crop Prices, 1983-1993 6. Prevalence of Goiter, 1990/91, Selected Regions 7. Anthropometric Indices, 1989 and 1994 8. Selected Characteristics of Births in 1986-91 by Region 9. Vaccination of Children 12-23 months, by Region 1991 10. Gender-Based Education Indicators for Cameroon 11. Salary Ratio and Employment Structure by Sector, 1983-1993 12. Mobilization of Household Labor and its Vulnerability, 1983-1993 13. Share of School-Age Population Employed 1987-1993 14. Family Status of Young People, 1987-1993 15. Young People's (15-29) Job Plans, by Current Status 139 REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON BASIC DATA 25 - 30 15 - 20 Most recent years ago years estimate ago (1991) Area and Population Total area (thousands of square kilometers 475 475 475 Total population (thousands) 5,825 7,439 12,000 Urban population as percent of total population 16.40% 226.90% 42% Per capita GNP (US$) ..... ..... $850 Population Growth Average annual population growth rate ... 1.9% 2.90 3% Projected population for year 2000 (millions) ..... ..... 15.5 Projected population for year 2025 (millions) ..... ..... 32.5 Total Fertility rate 5.2 6.3 5.8 Crude birth rate (per 1000) ..... 43 42 Crude death rate (per 1000) ..... 14 12 Age structure of population ...... 0 - 14 years ..... ..... 44.70% 15 - 64 years ..... ..... 51.60% over 65 years ..... ..... 3.70% Life expectancy (years) 42 47 55 Health Infant mortality rate, 0- year (per thousand live births) 143 109 65 Under five mortality rte (per thousand live births .. 198 126 Maternal mortality (per 100,000 live births) ..... ..... 430 Babies with low birth weight ..... ..... 13% Population per physician 26.720 13,700 11,998 Population per nurse 5,831 3,800 2,000 Family Planning Percent of women wanting no more children ..... ..... 12.4 % Percent of women wanting two years between births ..... ..... 34.7 Yo Percent of women using any method of contraception 16: % Percent of women using any modem method ..... 2.00% 5.0 /o Education Total illiteracy rate (% of population) 81% 59% 46% Family illiteracy rate ..... ..... 50 Percentage of age group enrolled in school ... . .Pr i m a r y 9 4 % / 9 7 % 1 01 /% ..... Secondary 5% 13% 26% ..... Tertiary 2% 4%/e Source: World Bank 1994g Cameroon: Diversity, Growth and Poverty Redaucton Annex I Table 2: Revenues, Expenditures and Ficwal Balances, 1984-1994 (as percent of GDP) 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994* Revenues 20.6 21.9 18.7 16.7 16.2 14.4 15.4 16.0 14.7 10.3 11.1 Expenditures 22.1 23.1 31.9 22.6 20.8 21.8 22.3 22.0 20.5 17.7 17.1 Current Expenditures 11.3 11.4 13.8 14.7 15.9 18.0 18.3 19.3 18.5 16.4 15.0 Curr. Exp. (exc. inter.) 10.5 10.4 12.7 12.7 14.2 14.2 14.1 13.8 13.3 9.2 7.6 interest payments 0.8 1.0 1.1 2.1 1.7 3.8 4.2 5.5 5.2 7.2 7.5 wage bill 5.6 5.6 7.3 7.4 8.4 8.7 9.1 9.5 9.4 6.2 4.4 non-wage curr. exp. 4.9 4.8 5.4 5.3 5.8 5.5 4.9 4.3 4.0 2.9 3.2 Capital Expenditures 10.9 11.8 18.0 7.9 5.0 3.9 4.0 2.7 2.0 1.4 2.1 o/w: domest. 7.1 8.2 13.5 2.7 1.8 1.0 0.9 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.5 financed (1.5) (1.2) (13.2) (6.0) (4.6) (7.7) (8.4) (6.8) (6.8) (9.5) (6.1) Budget Deficit (comm. basis) Projected. Source: AF3Cl. Annex I Table 3: Expenditure Trends by Major Category 1989/90-1994/95 Category 1989/90 %* 1990/91 %* 1991/92 %* 1992/93 %* 1993/94** %* 1994/95** %* Total wage bill 277,747 68% 291,822 590/o 283,459 57% 263,526 59%/ 270,980 49%/O 202,304 37% Priority sectors* 136,973 33% 136,210 28% 123,919 25% 110,661 25% 116,834 21% 68,291 13% Presid. & Related Serv. 22,248 5% 22,908 5% 23,332 5% 23,015 5% 24,188 4% 21,943 4% Defense 43,981 11% 47,082 10% 45,462 9% 44,503 10% 45,491 8% 52,074 10% Non-wage curr. exp. 36,431 9% 29,672 6% 27,040 5% 55,414 12% 67,350 12% 74,496 14% Priority sectors*** 4,652 1% 3,603 1% 2,738 1 % 14,379 3% 20,557 4% 27,543 5% Presid. & Related Serv. 10,735 3% 9,088 2% 7,850 2% 8,840 2% 10,654 2% 11,866 2% Defense 4,205 1% 1,944 0% 1,735 0% 2,399 1% 4,656 1 % 5,742 1% Capital Exp. 22,945 6% 14,064 3% 7,377 1% 4,304 1% 40,000 7% 54,000 10% Priority sectors*** 5,756 1% 5,188 1% 2,073 0% 784 0% 16,720 3% 24,245 4% Presid. & Related Serv. 5,334 1% 2,985 1% 1,379 0% 1,411 0% 4,640 1% 4,300 1% Defense 2,423 1% 305 0% 201 0% 93 0% 2,100 0% 2,100 0% Total Budget 409,343 493,168 496,643 450,311 550,660 546,000 * Percentage of Total Budget ¢ Allocations * Ministries of National Education, Health, Agriculture, Public Works, and Transport Sowce: AF3CI. 142 Annex I Table 4 Changes in Volume of Cash Crops Produced, 1983-1993 (in thousands of tons) ]-Evolution 1983/84 1985/86 1992/93 1983/1992 (%) Pnzcipalderops in decline-i _________- Cocoa bean 109 119 96 -12 Robustb coffee 47 77 45 -5 Arabica coffee 16 20 10 -37 Principal crops in progression i _ __ __________ Cotton grain 95 116 125 +32 Palm oil 65 103 110 +69 Sweet banana 57 55 132 +132 Raw rubber 15 20 49 +227 Source: J.J.Aerts, CFD, own estimates. Annex I Table 5a Trends in Food Crop (Starches) Prices, 1983-1993 Price level of a kilo (in CFAF) Evolution 1983 1989 1993 1983/1993 (%) Corn 153 143 69 -55 Plantaine 152 88 62 -59 Cassava 77 70 37 -53 Yam 206 206 136 -34 Starch total -61 Source: DSCN, own estimates. These ae the Yaounde prices in December of each year. Annex I Table 5b Trends in Food Prices (Other), 1983-1993 Price level per kilo (in CFAF) Evolution 1983 1989 1993 1983/1993 (%) Local tomatoes 217 152 149 -32 Local onions 372 375 245 -34 Okra 335 185 141 -58 Palm nut 244 136 89 -63 Peanut 278 269 159 -43 Local eggs (unit) 106 125 33 -69 Beef (with bone) 946 877 800 -16 Soroce: DSCN, own estimates. These are the Yaounde prices in December of each year. 143 Annex I Table 6: Prevalence of Goiter Region District Prevalence (%) Far North Mokolo 36 Doukoula 75 North Pitoa 12.5 Adamaoua Vina 45 North West Wum 13.3 Jakiri 45.9 Djottinloku 41.4 Oshie 64.0 West Bamungum 29.0 Bafang 5.4 Mbouda 5.2 Noun 65.0 South West Limbe 0.2 Tiko 2.8 Mamfe 12.6 Center Eseka 13.5 Akonolinga 16.5 Efok 6.2 East Batouri 14.5 South Ebolowa 6.0 Source: Lantum 1991. 144 Annex I Table 7: Anthropometric Indices from 800 Children Melen Primary School, Yaounde, 1989 and 1994. Weight for Age 1989 1994 Significant differences or _ _______________ not significant dif. (N.S.) Children 5-9 ans 102.1 ± 15.2 99.5 ± 13.6 Significant Boys 10-14 ans 94.8 ± 16.7 92.3 ± 14.4 NS. Girls 10-14 ans 101.3 17.6 95.2 ± 18.6 Significant WeighVHt2 (from BM1 Index) Children 5-9 ans 102.7 ± 10.0 98.6 ± 8.0 Significant Boys 10-14 ans 100.1 10.5 96.8 ± 8.9 Significant Girls 10-14 ans 103.4 12.5 97.6 ± 12.0 Significant Arm circumference (cm) Children 5-9 ans 18.7 ± 1.7 17.8 ± 1.8 Significant Boys 10-14 ans 20.8 ± 2.1 20.4 ± 1.9 Significant Girls 10-14 ans 22.1 ± 2.7 21.4 ± 2.7 Significant Source: Koppert 1994. Annex I Table 8 Selected Characteristics of Births in 1986-91 by Region North Center/South/East Coastal/West Northwest/Southwest Mothers receiving medical advice 53.2 89.4 92.5 98.6 no injections given to mother 49.9 26.3 13.2 12.4 birth at home 67.7 35.7 14.9 7.7 Source: CDHS(1991), own estimates. 145 Annex I Table 9 Vaccination of Children 12-23 months, by Region 1991 North Cenbr Coast Northwest % Adamaoua South West Southwest Far North East All vaccinations 26.5 1 30.4 1 41.9 | 57.2 No vaccinations 35.0 j 25.2 1 1175 --110.7 Source: CDHS(1991), own estimates. Annex I Table 10 Gender-Based Education Indicators for Cameroon Cameroon Sub-Saharan Africa Indicator Female Rate Gender Female Rate Gender Ratio Ratio Primary Admission Rate 76% (1987) 0.88 76% 0.88 Gross Primary Enrollment 100% (1986) 0.84 63% 0.77 Rate Repetition Rate, Primary 28% (1987) 0.95 22% 1.01 Persistence to Grade 4 85% (1985) 0.99 83% 0.99 Primary Completion Rate 43% (1987) 0.94 36% 0.81 Continuation Rate from 31% (1987) 0.92 41% 0.92 Primary to Secondary Gross Secondary 20% (1986) 0.63 11% 0.50 Enrollment Ratio Repetition Rate, Secondary 19% (1987) 1.00 19% 1.10 Secondary Completion Rate 26% (1987) 0.56 18% 0.64 Gross Tertiary Enrollment 0.6% 0.13 0.6% 0.22 Ratio _ Female Teachers as % of Total: Primary 29% (1987) 34% Secondary 21% (1987) 22% Mean Years of Schooling 0.8 (1990) 0.32 0.8 0.40 Adult Literacy Rate 43% (1990) 0.64 30% 0.57 Source: Statistical Indicators of Female Participation in Education in Sub-Saharan Africa, presented in Cameroon - Key Issues in Education and Training (draft), AF I PH, September 1994. 146 Annex I Table 11 Salary Ratio and Employment Structure by Sector, 1983-1993 The informal sector gains ground everywhere Ratio of Salaried Employment Employment structure % 1983 1987 1993 1983 1987 1993 Agriculture 47.8 19.8 5.8 2.7 3.9 4.3 Industry 100.0 95.2 85.4 0.2 0.1 0.1 Manufacturing 63.9 35.3 22.1 4.2 10.5 12.2 Utilities 100.0 84.7 89.2 0.6 0.8 0.8 BTP 69.5 60.4 47.3 10.9 11.2 4.5 Commerce 20.6 26.7 12.6 20.1 20.3 28.1 Transport-Storage 63.4 59.2 60.7 10.7 6.9 5.7 Financial Services 100.0 94.6 84.0 1.7 1.9 2.2 Other services: 84.2 89.8 76.6 48.9 44.4 42.2 - to households 60.9 49.1 10.1 16.0 - non merchant 98.3 99.4 34.3 26.2 TOTAL 65.1 63.1 48.9 100 100 100 Souce: HBS(1983/84), RGPH(1987), 1-2-3 Survey (1993), own estimates. Annex I Table 12 Mobilization of Household Labor and its Vulnerability, 1983-1993 Status of head Activity rate(%) Unemployment rate (%) Salarisation rate (%) of household 1983 1987 1993 1983 1987 1993 1983 1987 1993 Idle 16.7 27.2 26.7 5.0 9.6 14.9 17.8 14.6 12.7 Unemployed