PEDA advocacy booklet : case study : Cameroon

Abstract

Cameroon has enjoyed relative stability since independence. However, its economy was badly affected by the economic recession of the 1980s that most sub-Saharan African countries experienced. Since then, there was a steady increase of poverty that the recent economic recovering of the country could not alleviate. As an indicator, the life expectancy at birth has even decreased from 52.4 years in 1990 to 50 years in 2000. This is why poverty alleviation is the main objective of development policies in Cameroon. Such policies aim to reduce poverty by addressing its causes, among others: population growth, low level of education, low status of women in the society, low level of productivity, and natural resources degradation.