Graduate School of International Studies Ajou University
Publication Year
2005-08
Language
eng
Alternative Abstract
Despite its rich natural resources base, a disturbing 48% of total population in Cameroon lives below the UN poverty line, 53.3% of which lives in the rural areas and are primarily dependent on agricultural activities. The poverty prevalence rate remains highest among rural farmers (57%) despite the fact that the agricultural sector has been the biggest contributor to GDP and the largest in terms of labor. Even though they constitute the majority, they have been systematically and technically excluded from the national resource base. They live so far away from schools, hospitals and facilities, which urban people take for granted, consequences being mass suffering and untimely deaths even in face of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which they usually attribute to traditional phenomena like witchcraft. After a multitude of economic hardships suffered, state government continues to withdraw itself from active involvement in key aspects of rural development.
Amidst this situation a majority of the over 10.000 NGOs in the country considers fighting poverty as their principal preoccupation. However, their proliferation and interventions are still far from meeting poverty alleviation targets owing to a number of organizational, operational and environmental constraints. This implies that to get rural poverty off its first position in public agenda, there is an urgent need for the Government of Cameroon to manifest it’s commitment by expanding active involvements in rural areas, alienating bribery and corruption through financial transparency and accountability and enacting sound legislation for the involvement of Civil Society Organizations in poverty reduction scheme while in turn Civil Society organizations have to be more proactive in their approaches and show total devotion to combating this vicious ill.