A/HRC/22/50/Add.2 entire labour force) would cost less than 6 per cent of Gross Domestic Product.17 Such an investment in the realization of the right to social security would be affordable, if fiscal reforms were introduced (to improve the efficiency of tax collection and the progressive taxation system), together with measures to scale up gradually the proportion of Government funds allocated to social spending, particularly for the poorest households. 41. Thirdly, to improve access by the Cameroonian population to affordable food, measures must be taken to reduce the retail price of basic products, stimulate local production by improving market access for farmers, and boost the purchasing power of the entire population. This requires the adoption of a coordinated approach among all ministerial departments in the framework of a national strategy for the realization of the right to food. Access to productive resources 42. According to information made available to the Special Rapporteur, Cameroon has concluded agreements on transfers of almost 800,000 hectares of arable land, of which at least 349,400 hectares are intended for oil palm cultivation. Over the past decade, more than 300,000 additional hectares have been transferred in the form of concessions to foreign investors. Recent agreements include the signing of a 99-year lease between the State and SG Sustainable Oils Cameroon (SGSOC), a wholly owned subsidiary of an American company, Herakles Farms. The lease is on 73,086 hectares of land in the south-western region, of which 60,000 hectares will be used for the production of palm oil. According to some estimates, six companies are proposing to develop a further million hectares for palm oil production in the coming years.18 Like other countries on the continent, Cameroon has become a major target of the land acquisition strategies developed by international investors. 43. Given current rural poverty levels, the proportion of the population employed in agriculture, and the commercial pressure on land resulting from demand among foreign investors, the issue of protecting the right of access to land has assumed particular importance. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recalls that “the obligation to respect existing access to adequate food requires States parties not to take any measures that result in preventing such access”.19 Currently, the criteria for recognizing private ownership of land are set out in Order No. 74-1 of 6 July 1974, on the establishment of the landownership system, and in one of the implementing laws, namely, Decree No. 76165 of 27 April 1976, on the conditions for obtaining a land deed. However, this legal framework has a number of shortcomings. 44. Firstly, communities that depend for their living on shifting agriculture or hunting or gathering are not sufficiently protected. Article 14 of Order No. 74-1 provides that unregistered land that is neither State-owned public or private property nor the property of other public bodies is national State property. This land may be ceded by the State, notably in the form of a concession or a lease. However, while, in principle, protection is provided for land that is occupied under the customary tenure system and effectively developed,20 the 17 18 19 20 GE.12-18864 K. Pal, et al., Can low-income countries afford basic social protection? First results of a modelling exercise. Issues in Social Protection, Discussion Paper 13 (Geneva, International Labour Office), 2005; and Can low-income countries afford basic social security? International Labour Office, Social Security Department, 2008. Oil Palm Development in Cameroon, WWF-IRD-CIFOR, April 2012. E/C.12/1999/5, para. 15. Under the terms of article 15 of Order No. 74-1, this refers to “residential land, (...) cropland, plantations, grazing land and access routes whose occupation is reflected in an obvious human influence on the land and its evident development” occupied or exploited by customary communities 11