The Rainforests of Cameroon - PROFOR

16 The Rainforests of CameroonAlthough most of this timber is sold domestically, a significant proportionnow makes its way to Nigeria and the Sahel through informal networks.The pressure on forests for fuelwood is higher in Cameroon’s northernforests than in the south, but it is likely to increase as urban areasand needs expand. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UnitedNations (FAO) estimates that 9.5 million cubic meters of fuelwood arecollected yearly in Cameroon (the estimate from the Ministry of Forestsis even higher, at 12 million cubic meters). No data are available on itsvalue or its contribution to household incomes, because gathering fuelwoodis generally considered a domestic chore. No opportunity cost oflabor is associated with it. Nor are data available on the opportunity costsassociated with fuelwood collection, which can be considerable, particularlyfor women and children. On average, an urban household is thoughtto spend $50–55 each year on fuelwood; altogether, Cameroon’s 1.3 millionurban households probably spend about $65 million to $70 millionon this resource annually.Agriculture has also claimed its share of Cameroon’s rainforests. Fromindependence until the mid-1980s, the government encouraged theconversion of moist forests into small-scale coffee and cocoa farms. Theincursion of these farms was facilitated by large commercial timber operations,which built roads and opened extensive tracts in remote areas.With the exception of Eastern Province, Cameroon’s dense humid forestis now interspersed with small cocoa and coffee farms, in addition to theslash-and-burn plots of other crops maintained by local people.Economic Depression and RecoveryAmid Cameroon’s great diversity, poverty remains perhaps the greatestcommonality. About 40 percent of the population lives under the povertythreshold of $1 per day, and Cameroon is off track for meeting most of theMillennium Development Goals (UNDP 2003). Cameroon was regardedas one of Africa’s most vibrant economic successes until its economic andpolicy weaknesses were exposed in the mid-1980s, when sharply decliningprices for coffee, cocoa, and oil led to a 60 percent decline in the externalterms of trade. This severe shock, combined with an overvalued exchangerate, fiscal crisis, and Delivered economic by The mismanagement, World Bank e-library was to: followed by years ofThe World Bankprolonged economic stagnation IP : and 192.86.100.34 rapidly accumulating public debt. 1Although this debilitating Mon, depression 09 Nov 2009 17:06:18 came to an end after 1993, theeconomy has recovered only slowly, with moderate annual growth of4.5 percent in real gross domestic product (GDP) and low inflation of(c) The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank