WFP and ECHO support small businesses in conflict affected NW/SW regions amidst growing food prices

Tende Stella values her small eatery by the corner of the main market in Buea Town, South West region at over 370,000FCFA (over Euro 500). She earns a weekly profit of about 15,000FCFA (Euro 22.8) which she says is just enough to meet the food and nutrition needs of her family of four children.

She fled fighting in the restive North West region of Cameroon to settle in Buea which is relatively calm but also because it is the only other place in Cameroon where she has family. When she moved to Buea in 2018, the socio-economic crisis hitting the two regions was in full swing and food insecurity was peaking. Life in the university town was hard and expensive.

For almost two years she depended on the support of friends and family until she got enrolled into WFP’s cash assistance program November 2021, supported by partners like the European Union. For the two months ending the year 2021, Stella received 50,000FCFA ($40 per month). She started her street food businesses selling local breakfast and lunch delicacies under a make-shift tent close to the main market in Buea town.

Everything seemed to be falling in place. She was making just enough money to feed her children and send them to school. However, in the second quarter of 2022, the effects of the Russia-Ukraine crisis took a toll and prices of basic food commodities including those Stella uses for her business skyrocketed. “I was sure that in another year, I wouldn’t need WFP support, but the way things are going now, it’s hard to predict,” she said.

Stella still engages in her petty trade. She is looking to diversify her options with the monthly stipend she receives from WFP.