This Country Programme has been modified as per Budget revision 4 (see below).

The Republic of Cameroon is a low-income, food-insecure country with 16.9 million inhabitants. The United Nations Development Programme Human Development Report for 2006 ranked it 144th of 177 countries: 40 percent of the population have an income of less than US$1 a day; 18 percent of children under 5 are underweight. The rate of severe acute malnutrition ranges from 0.3 percent to 1.9 percent in the north.

The country programme for 2008–2012 addresses the goals of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework and the Government’s development priorities in its Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper; it is in line with five of the eight Millennium Development Goals:(i) eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, (ii) achieve universal primary education, (iii) promote gender equality and empower women, (iv) ensure environmental sustainability and (v) develop a global partnership for development – and with the Strategic Objectives in WFP’s Strategic Plan (2006–2009).

The component “Support for basic education and enrolment of girls in Extrême-Nord, Nord and Adamaoua provinces” aims at annual increases in the number of pupils enrolled in primary schools and parity between girls and boys in the target areas, in line with Strategic Objective 4. Component 2 “Food security in Extrême-Nord and Nord provinces” aims to improve food availability through improved management of cereal stocks, in line with Strategic Objective 2.

The provinces, which have been food-insecure for several decades, are targeted on the basis of the 2004 vulnerability analysis and mapping exercise. The ongoing vulnerability analysis and mapping will refine targeting in the intervention zones.

The Government has helped to plan this country programme and will increase its contribution during implementation, which will be undertaken in collaboration with the United Nations Development Group and non-governmental organizations in Cameroon. WFP will help the Government to establish a national school feeding policy, a first stage in its phase-out and assumption by the Government of responsibility for school feeding.

In view of the limited resources allocated to development activities, the budget for this country programme is US$11.9 million to assist an annual average of 68,000 beneficiaries for five years.