On Wednesday, September 6, the Ministry Of Forestry And Wildlife (Minfof) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) signed a cooperation agreement for the "Sustainable management of wildlife to improve the living conditions of local populations". The project framed by this agreement is financed by the European Union (EU). It "aims to contribute to improving the living conditions of populations that depend on the exploitation of wildlife, the conservation of biodiversity and natural ecosystems, and to reduce zoonotic risks," Minfof states on its website.

Through this agreement, the various parties agree to reconcile rural populations’ food and nutritional security and wildlife conservation, by organizing a legal and sustainable bushmeat industry. The project will be implemented on the pilot site located on the Djoum-Mintom axis, southeast of the Dja wildlife reserve, said Dr. Athman Mravili, FAO representative in Cameroon. In this area, rural populations still rely heavily on hunting for their food and nutritional security. They also rely on hunting for income due to the landlocked nature of the area and limited economic opportunities.

In the framework of the project, twenty Bantu villages and Baka encampments will be trained on how to sustain game stocks and how to access and use wildlife resources without undermining biodiversity conservation. This project is part of a series of initiatives to promote the fight against hunger in Cameroon. However, neither the amount allocated to this project nor its duration has been communicated.

Patricia Ngo Ngouem