Country Comments

Lying in the equatorial region of Africa, Cameroon with its rich tropical biodiversity is sustainable at its current population level. However its population growth rate of over 4 ½ children per mother indicates that there will be too many people consuming too many resources in excess of the country’s carrying capacity before the end of the decade.

Mongabay reports that deforestation is having a significant environmental impact in parts of the country. In the north, deforestation has been blamed for increasing soil erosion, desertification, and reduced quality of pastureland. A brand-new highway, which will link Cameroon to the Republic of Congo by road for the first time cuts right through the heart of one of the least disturbed forests of the Congo Basin, threatening biodiversity that has been tucked away from human reach for ages. By almost every account, the greatest risk is to a declining elephant population, along with tens of thousands of gorillas, chimpanzees and a host of other wildlife, some of which conservation workers suspect have never experienced human contact.

According to a report by Guttmacher in 2014 approximately 2.3 million Cameroonian women of reproductive age—43% of all women aged 15–49—are sexually active and want to delay having a child or want no more children. However, very few women have access to modern contraception leaving a huge unmet need. Though the government has approved a strategic plan that includes doubling contraceptive prevalence by 2020, this goal will remain elusive unless investments in reproductive health are significantly increased.