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1. The impact of COVID 19 on health and food security in Cameroon

Author:
Egoh Aziz and Dr. Fuein Vera Kum
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
The outbreak of COVID 19 in the Wuhan province of China has caused tremendous damages to human lives throughout the world while affecting the global economy due to the untold temporary lockdowns of businesses, companies, and the restriction of international travels across the globe. With high and mostly under-reported COVID-19-related fatalities in many countries as well as the added strain on healthcare services, the burden of this pandemic is easily palpable. The impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak in Cameroon continues to unfold and carries with it considerable human security risks. The United Nation’s Development Program considers seven main dimensions of human security through sustainable human development. These are economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community, and political security. The departure point of this article brings into focus the effects of the current coronavirus pandemic on health and food security. Based on available data from reliable sources (such as the Ministry of Public Health, the Nkafu Policy Institute’s Coronavirus Task Force, FAO, IMF, World Bank, WHO, etc.), we analyze the impact of COVID 19 on the afore-mentioned aspects of human security and propose recommendations that can help mitigate the overarching consequences of the virus on health and food security in Cameroon.
Topic:
Health, Food, Health Care Policy, Food Security, Coronavirus, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

2. Cameroon’s Informal Sector Put To The Test By Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Author:
Dr. Louis-Marie Kakdeu and Ulrich D’POLA KAMDEM
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
On 6 March 2020, the first positive case of Coronavirus (COVID-19) was recorded in Cameroon. Towards the end of April 2020, the country has more than 1000 positive cases with eight (8) out of the country’s ten (10) regions affected. To block the spread of the Coronavirus in Cameroon, government’s authorities took a series of thirteen (13) measures on 17 March 2020. At the level of business enterprises, the objective of the actions taken to counter the virus was two-fold: to implement the government’s recommendations and, especially, to ensure continuity of work. For example, the use of telework has been adopted in some companies. However, while the government’s measures and those relating to telework have been widely followed in both the public and the formal private sectors, they have, nevertheless, been a real headache for the informal sector. Indeed, the informal sector in Cameroon is characterised by precarious activities, with little or no supervision, which are not covered by the National Accounting. This sector employs 90% of the active population and accounts for more than 50% of the country’s GDP according to the International Labour Organization – ILO (2017). Consequently, because of its weight in the Cameroonian economy, this article analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the informal sector.
Topic:
Economics, Health, Public Sector, Private Sector, Coronavirus, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

3. The Impact Of Covid-19 On Sino-African Trade Activities

Author:
Egoh Aziz
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
The recent outbreak of COVID-19 has caused waves of horror and anxiety across many nations in the world. Considering the intense unravelling of the pandemic, no exact figure as per the number of confirmed and death cases worldwide is definite because the situation changes almost every hour. However, on April 14, 2020 3:40 GMT, Worldometer reported 210 countries and territories across the globe having a total of 1,925,179 confirmed cases, and a dead toll of 119,699 deaths. The impact of the pandemic is disastrous globally affecting a variety of sectors including the service and supply chain, as well as trade, manufacturing, and tourism. This article aims to provide a synoptic assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on Sino-African trade activities. It stresses that, if African policymakers revamp their efforts to quickly address COVID-19, the human casualty will be less and African economic growth may experience lesser shock as previewed by the IMF. On the other hand, if they relent their efforts, the human casualty will soar while the growth rate may decline. The effect of COVID-19’s outbreak in China has caused a slowdown on exports and services directed towards China.According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China, in 2018, China’s total import and export volume with Africa was US$204.19 billion, a yearly increase of 19.7%, surpassing the total growth rate of foreign trade in the same period by 7.1 percentage points. Among these, China’s exports to Africa were US$104.91 billion, up 10.8% and China’s imports from Africa were US$99.28 billion, up 30.8%; the surplus was US$5.63 billion, down 70.0% every year. The growth rate of Sino African trade was the highest in the world in 2018. This shows that Sino-African trade has a significant contribution to the growth of African economies.
Topic:
Economics, Health, International Cooperation, International Trade and Finance, Trade, Coronavirus, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Africa, China, Asia, and Cameroon

4. Cloth Face Masks Should be Used in the Community, Not by Health Care Workers in Health Facilities

Author:
Ronald Gobina
Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
Wearing face masks are an essential aspect of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Although medical face masks are reportedly in very short supply in many countries especially low-income countries, cloth face masks seem to be gaining ground in terms of popularity and usage. In Cameroon, where the government has mandated wearing face masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19, with hefty fines for violators, cloth face masks are becoming more and more ubiquitous. They are a natural choice for community face mask users due to the ease of access (relatively low cost of production, accessibility of materials), potential reusability, and esthetic variability. The usefulness of cloth face masks to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses, however, has been subject to a lot of debate. The scientific community is torn between outright restriction of use because of a lack of evidence supporting protective ability and the ethical dilemma of appearing to prefer a ‘no face masks’ policy (where medical masks are unavailable).
Topic:
Health, Coronavirus, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

5. COVID-19: Lessons and Implications for Public Policy-Making Processes in Cameroon

Author:
Peter SAKWE MASUMBE
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
Public policies can rightly be viewed as a political system’s responses to public demands and problems arising from its environment in domains as, transportation, education, agriculture, health, law enforcement, security, business, and so on, depending upon whether a chosen policy approach falls within the armpit of constituent, distributive, re-distributive, regulatory policy type. Policy problems are conditions or situations, which generate a human need, deprivation or dissatisfaction, self-identified by a group or groups of people, for which relief is sought for a large number of people in society. On the contrary, it is not a policy problem if it affects only a few persons in society. Talking of the political system, it comprises the identifiable and interrelated institutions and their activities, otherwise known as governmental institutions and political processes, which authoritatively allocate values in form of decisions, which are binding upon society. Certainly, binding as these decisions are, and going by this view of public policies; what character of policy responses has Cameroon enunciated against COVID-19; and what are the lessons and implications of these responses on the human capital and economy Cameroon now in the future? Are the policy responses against COVID-19 akin to impromptu approach with weak physiognomies? Are there alternative policies open to Cameroon for combating COVID-19?
Topic:
Health, Health Care Policy, Public Policy, Coronavirus, Pandemic, Domestic Policy, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon