Vegetable Production and the Livelihood of Farmers in Bamenda Municipality, Cameroon

Abstract

Cameroon is endowed with enormous agricultural potentials, which would contribute significantly in poverty reduction and sustainable development. About 75% of the active population of Cameroon is involved in agricultural production, which accounts for 50% of total exports (MINEFI, 2002). For several decades now, agriculture has been a very important sector that has increasingly significantly contributed to the national economy. In 1999, it accounted for 42.4% of the national gross domestic product (MINEFI, 2002). Of recent, the government of Cameroon has laid emphasis on agriculture as one of the pillars for an emerging country. Low-income farmers account for most of the staple food that feeds the country. A very significant proportion of the national food production by these farmers is also sold to the neighbouring countries. The success of Cameroon s agriculture is thus not only important for the producers and the nation, but has a significant impact on the Right to Food for the Central Africa sub region. Because of the relatively high agricultural production, many deny the fact that, food insecurity in Cameroon is problematic. This is because it is not often considered as one of the hunger hotspots in the region when compared with countries like Gabon, Chad, Niger, the Central African Republic, Sudan and others (USAID, 2003). Nevertheless, the ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 3 Number 12 (2014) pp. 682-700 http://www.ijcmas.com