AN OVERVIEW OF CAMEROON

In 1961, Cameroon was created from former French and British areas to form the current country of Cameroon.  Cameroon is located in Central Africa. Her neighbors are Nigeria, Chad, Central African Republic, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and the Bight of Biafra.  The climate varies from tropical along the coast to semi-arid and hot in the north.  Her natural resources are:  petroleum, bauxite, iron ore, and timber.
Cameroon is slightly larger than California, with a population of approximately 16 million.   Farmers make up 80 percent of the population, but only 13 percent of the land is arable. The country has generally enjoyed political stability, which has permitted the development of a few agriculture plantations, some roads and a railway, as well as a petroleum industry.  Unfortunately the benefits of these industries and advancements have not trickled down to the rural population.

Forty percent of the population is Christian and 20 percent is Muslim; indigenous beliefs account for the remaining 40 percent.  There are 24 major African language groups; English and French are the official languages.  Such diversity hinders the rural people as their language skills are limited.

Women make up 55 percent of the population of Cameroon and of this, 72 percent live in the rural areas. Some families own land while the majority rent their farm fields.  Rural women are principally responsible for food crop production, while the men have traditionally been involved in cash crop production such as coffee and cocoa.  Recently, cash crop prices have fallen drastically along with diminished levels of production.  Therefore, the money that the men habitually used for school tuition, medical needs, and other major expenses is no longer available.  While some men have found menial jobs at a greatly reduced salary, and others have begun to help their wives on the farms, the majority of men are unemployed.

Culturally, it is not acceptable for men to do work that has traditionally been relegated to women.  This has caused increased poverty for the average rural family and a greater burden for the women, as they are responsible for the production, the harvesting, and transportation of food to their respective homes. They are further responsible for the domestic duties of child caring and fetching wood and water for the family.  With decreased discretionary spending, it is difficult to pay tuition for school, thus the illiteracy rate is rising.  Because of the culture, education of male children is favored in the belief that girls need only to learn domestic duties at home.
Recent development has favored the cities over the rural areas resulting in poverty, illiteracy, and health problems for the poor peasants.  Outside the cities, very few roads are paved, which isolates the rural villages during the rainy season.  There is very little irrigated land, therefore during the long dry season peasant farmers have great difficulty maintaining subsistence. 

Health conditions in rural villages contribute to a short life span, with an average of 53 years for life expectancy at birth.  There are 560,000 living with HIV/AIDS.  In the rural areas, the risk of infectious disease is extremely high.  Common diseases are food or waterborne diseases, vectorborne or insect carried diseases, water contact diseases, and respiratory diseases.  The medical facilities to treat these diseases and other health issues are limited.