People living in Cameroon’s Far North region, located in the Lake Chad basin, are experiencing extreme vulnerability
People living in Cameroon’s Far North region, located in the Lake Chad basin, are experiencing extreme vulnerability. Attacks and clashes with armed groups, intercommunal conflicts, food insecurity, climatic shocks and displaced populations are all a daily reality.
"Since 2014, we have not stopped hosting people fleeing the conflict on the border with Nigeria," said Lamido Ibrahim Hamaoua, Chief of Zamai locality in the Mayo-Tsanaga division.
"In my locality, I have given more than 35 hectares to the internally displaced populations for their shelters and fields.For me, it is a duty to welcome them and help them restore their dignity.”
Zamai is hosting nearly 4,000 internally displaced women, men and children in five sites. The host population, which was already impoverished and affected by drought, comprises some 25,000 people.
"When I was 14, I was abducted and forcibly married to a combatant," said 20-year-old Amina.* "He locked me up and held me for three years, and we had a child.”
When her husband was killed in combat, Amina escaped with her 1-year-old son. It took her two days to walk with him to Mouzougou locality — several kilometres away. From there, the military picked them up and took them to the site for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Zamai.
Non-State armed groups have been in the region since 2014, but floods and droughts have affected the population for several decades.
In 2020, floods displaced more than 162,000 people in Cameroon’s Far North, resulting in substantial losses of livelihoods, crops and homes.
Légende: Students from Koukouma travel to their temporary school by boat
In 2021, birds and elephants destroyed nearly 3,000 hectares in the Mayo-Tsanaga, Mayo-Sava and Logone et Chari divisions, affecting more than 10,000 farmers and indirectly affecting local communities. Low rainfall and a long dry spell have led to earlier lean periods, armed groups have looted agricultural stocks and seeds, and people can no longer access their fields due to insecurity caused by armed conflicts.
Violence and climate-related shocks will result in food insecurity for 900,000 people in the region between June and August 2022 — an increase of almost 100,000 people compared to 2021 — according to the “Cadre harmonisé” analysis, which identifies at-risk areas and food and nutritionally insecure populations.
The scarcity of natural resources, such as water, also exacerbates intercommunal conflicts. In the Logone Birni district, more than 40 people were killed and 112 villages burned due to intercommunal conflicts in December. The violence displaced over 36,000 people in the region, and over 35,000 people have relocated to Chad.
Légende: Mariam and her family at Bogo displacement
In December 2021, Mariam arrived in Adjanir with her co-wife, her husband and their 19 children. They left abruptly one night, after the violence started in Faneh, in the Logone Birni district of the Far North region.
Mariam explained:
"When we arrived, the Lamido gave us some mats so that we would not have to sleep on the ground, as well as some blankets. Unfortunately, there were not enough for everyone."
They built a hut with pieces of wood, but they have no protection from either the cold or mosquitoes.
"We are hungry and thirsty, especially the children," she said.
She and her family must walk about a kilometre to fetch water, which they share with the host community. Tensions are emerging between the displaced and host populations, but Mariam acknowledges that they would have starved without the community’s hospitality.
Some families were separated when they fled the violence. At the Domayo IDP site, in Maroua town, people wait for a distribution of non-food kits, including mats, blankets, jerry cans and sanitary towels. While trying to provide for themselves, they are desperate to find family members who have been missing since the violence began.
In the Bogo IDP site, most families are hosted in makeshift shelters. But they are exposed to the cold, have no means to feed themselves and no access to health care. Children have no access to education or to a healthy diet.
Many people would like to return to their place of origin, but they fear a resurgence of violence.
During intercommunal violence in Logone Birni last year, Omar and 350 people from his community fled after their houses were burned down. They settled in Wourodjouglé locality, in the Diamara division. Most of the displaced people in Omar’s community are herders, traders or farmers.
"When we arrived, we received some mats, blankets and food rations," said Omar. "Our friends and family sent us money, which enabled us to build two boreholes for a water supply.”
For Omar, returning to his home village is not an option; he fears being attacked again:
"I have lost everything. My house was burned down, I lost all my documents and most of my belongings.”
Despite humanitarian partners’ efforts, the needs of the displaced population remain high. The region now hosts nearly 640,000 IDPs, Nigerian refugees and returnees.
In April 2022, humanitarian partners launched an appeal for US$376 million to meet the needs of 2.6 million people in Cameroon. This is expected to provide humanitarian assistance to 764,000 women, men and children in the Far North region.
Last year, only 51 per cent of the Humanitarian Response Plan for Cameroon was funded. As a result, more than 1 million people across the country are still without vital humanitarian assistance and protection. Resources are needed more than ever to enable the humanitarian community to reach all affected people in Cameroon.
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