CAMEROON (10 October)
Rains have been adequate countrywide, and overall crop prospects are favourable. Harvesting of the first maize crop is nearly complete in the south, which should improve food supply and reduce prices in the northern part of the country, where a serious decline in the 2004 cereal production led to a tight food situation this year. For 1 month, WFP is providing an emergency ration of cereals to 237 700 people in the Far North province of Cameroon, the poorest part of the country.
In a bid to diversify the economy and reduce its dependency on oil production, the Government launched recently a five-year campaign to revamp the cocoa sector and boost output to 200 000 tonnes per year. 160 000 tonnes of cocoa were produced in 2003/04 in Cameroon, where between 1 million and 2 million people depend directly or indirectly on the cocoa sector.