Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.

The adoption of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Document (PRSP) by the government of Cameroon is a milestone in the process of reforms carried out by the Government of Cameroon since October 2000, when the country reached the decision point of the Enhanced Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC). 202 The government’s policy is to increase the consumption of fresh and processed food in order to reduce food imports and improve national food security. The main strategic objectives are to: (i) improve farm productivity (enhancing the use of quality seeds and technology through extension services); (ii) market starch crops (stabilize urban supply and pricing); and (iii) promote export- or processing-oriented SMEs/SMIs. A special cassava program will be established because of the product’s social and economic importance (a third of cassava production is processed). 207 In addition to their important role in improving food security, livestock and fisheries also contribute to the creation of wealth, thanks to the employment they generate and other related activities, including: (i) production of organic fertilizers to improve agricultural yields; (ii) animal traction which improves labor productivity; and (iii) transportation of agricultural products, particularly from landlocked areas to collecting centers or to neighboring markets. 356 With the support of development partners, the government will implement programs which, by 2011, will help to: (i) halve protein-energetic malnutrition among children under 5; (ii) reduce anemia by one-third among women of childbearing age and preschool children; (iii) eradicate vitamin A deficiency among children under 5; and (iv) eradicate iodine deficiency-related difficulties.