Climate Change : Overcoming Threats To Food Security

Changing climatic conditions in Cameroon have put farmers a bay with food availability and survival tactics.  For generations, local farmers like Dorothy Amin have coaxed life from the soil, but now, the erratic rains and scorching temperatures have made traditional ways of life unsustainable.
According to Dorothy Amin, a 62-year-old farmer in Yaounde, "We used to know when the rains would come, and go. We are currently in December and it sometimes feels like August. The rains are either too much or too little, with unpredictable timing. This is taking a toll on our crops” she explained. “My maize stalks just like my neighbor’s, once tall and green, are now stunted and yellow,” she lamented. Similarly, heavy or unprecedented winds as well as very heavy rainfalls in the South West, Littoral, East, and West Regions caused Fonge Percy, a large-scale plantain farmer over 45% losses in premature bunches in 2024. 
Statistics from the United Nations estimates that over 3.9 million people in Cameroon are currently facing acute food insecurity, with a projected rise as climate change intensifies. Research by Obenebangha & Nkwemoh (2024) further reveal that average temperatures in the North Region have increased by 1.5 degrees Celsius over the past three decades, leading to more frequent and severe droughts with 43.1 per cent of households reportedly worrying about food security. "Climate change is not a distant threat; it is our daily reality," explained a climate change expert, Cedrick Fogwan. To him, "The shrinking of Lake Chad, a vital resource for fishing and agriculture, and the unpredicta...