A/HRC/22/50/Add.2 sufficient food because of poverty and their inability to produce enough food for their own consumption.2 6. The statistics on malnutrition paint a similar picture. Approximately 33 per cent of children suffer from chronic malnutrition, which seriously hinders their growth and development. The situation is particularly serious in rural areas: 20 per cent of children in rural areas are underweight, as compared to 7 per cent of children in urban areas.3 There are also wide regional disparities. Food insecurity rates range between 17.9 per cent and 15.4 per cent in the Far North and North regions and 0.7 per cent and 2.0 per cent in the SouthWest and North-West regions.4 7. The economic crisis that began in 1987, as the oil boom (1978–1986) ended and international prices for the country’s main exports were falling, did lasting damage to the initiatives taken by Cameroon to realize the right to food. In 1997, the ongoing crisis forced the country to embark on a series of structural adjustment programmes in which priority was given to achieving economic growth and re-establishing macroeconomic equilibrium. This limited the authorities’ capacity to support agricultural and rural development and the social sector. As part of the adjustments process, large public companies in the agrifood sector were privatized. Furthermore, the entry into force, in 1995, of an agreement on agriculture, resulted in a substantial reduction in preferential access to Europe for export products. 8. Against this backdrop, the efforts undertaken in the framework of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Document (2003–2007) yielded few results, given what the Government itself referred to as the “almost total disengagement of the State from rural areas”.5 When prices rose at the beginning of 2000–2010, negatively affecting consumers, the revenue of agricultural producers shrank. This situation prompted the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to call for more robust redistribution policies to mitigate the impact of unequal growth. 9. A new phase is now under way. Clearly, the crisis and the structural adjustments process continue to have an impact, notably on debt repayments and the administrative capacity of the State. However, following the 2008 food crisis, Cameroon decided to redefine its agricultural and rural development policies. The renewed interest in natural resources — agricultural land, forests and mineral resources, particularly oil — is generating new revenue. The mission took place against this general background. B. Situation in the northern regions 10. The high level of food insecurity in the northern regions (Adamaoua, North and Far North), which encompass the Sudano-Sahelian agriecological zone, can be attributed to climatic conditions and recurrent climatic challenges, including the floods of 2010 and the droughts of 2009 and 2011. In 2011, 81 per cent of rural households in the Far North, where 30 per cent of Cameroonians live, were food insecure. At the time of the Special 2 3 4 5 4 World Food Programme, FAO, Republic of Cameroon, Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis, April/May 2011, p. 3. Republic of Cameroon, Enquête démographique et de santé à indicateurs multiples EDS-MICS 2011, Rapport préliminaire (Multiple indicator demographic and health study, Preliminary report), October 2011, p. 23. World Food Programme, FAO, Republic of Cameroon, Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis, p. 5. Republic of Cameroon, Document de stratégie pour la croissance et l’emploi, 2010–2020 (Strategy Document for Growth and Employment 2010–2020), pp. 12 and 42. GE.12-18864