|
A major problem facing rural populations is their remoteness.
Villages are cut off by lack of bridges, and group members recount
how women in their area have died in labor on the way to the hospital
because their village was not accessible by car. Local populations
contribute considerably towards the construction of infrastructure
to unlock the villages.
Most of these bridges connect the sides of the ravines where once
a river had flowed. Dry rivers are frequently recurring sights
on this trip. Some may still fill during the rainy season, while
others have become permanently waterless. In response to my question
whether they could remember when water still flowed in these rivers
my companions answer that after some severe floods in the early
1980s the rains have become insufficient. The climatic changes
compound the problems of infertile soil, resulting in harvests
that frequently fail. From one year to the next the population
in northern Cameroon faces the issue of food security.
Cotton
Abdullaye says that the peasant farmers of northern Cameroon
earn 175 CFA ($0.27) per kilogram of first grade cotton. The seeds
are later removed and pressed to get cottonseed oil. While a small
part of the cotton is processed in Cameroon and Nigeria for local
textile industries, the bulk is put on the world market. Abdullaye
would like the group to be involved on decision-making levels
of the world market. Knowing early about changes in world market
prices for cotton would help them make better decisions about
when to sell their produce.
In the wake of the privatization wave going through Third World
countries since the 1990s, the cotton factory will soon be up
for sale. According to Abdullaye, it has a price tag of 50-60
billion CFA ($85 million). Hoping to increase the benefits from
their labor, more than 30,000 people in cotton-growing communities
have collected 5 billion CFA ($7,7 million) for shares in the
factory. Influential competitors in the field, however, seem to
be trying to obtain shares in an underhanded way. The question
is: How much of the factory's profits will eventually continue
to circulate in Cameroon's economy?
Joining Hands Against Hunger
I return with vivid images of poverty and globalization existing
next to each other, as puzzle pieces of our disconnected world.
On one side are the farmers confronted with pressing local needs,
on the other side they anonymously stand at the base of a larger
economic picture with their cotton feeding into the global markets.
Are Cameroonian cotton farmers given equal chances on the supposedly
open world markets? How does the price Cameroonian farmers get
for their cotton compare to what American farmers receive? As
a condition for developing countries to receive new loans, the
IMF imposes major cuts in their national budgets for agriculture,
education, and health services. The Cameroonian government had
to stop subsidizing much-needed fertilizer, which put the survival
of subsistence-level farmers at even greater risk. Yet global
trade rules allow First World governments to protect their economies
by heavily subsidizing their producers. While the poor countries
are pressured to open their borders for products from the industrialized
countries, rich countries put up barriers to goods from the poor
countries.
Through contributions to the Presbyterian Hunger Program Presbyterians
have supported small, local projects that increase drinking water,
education, and access to health care. Thanks be to God. Still,
more must be done. There must be equity in decision-making and
liability. These may be less tangible than a well, but they are
as real and more pressing than ever. Supporting the powerless
in the face of a New World Order is perhaps not as appealing but
it is no less imperative a mission. That's what the Joining Hands
Against Hunger Program ("new-style" Presbyterian Hunger
Program) tries to do.
For further reading
Peace,
Christi
The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study, p. 30
|
