Success Story Magazine Editorial
Never in the History of Mankind has so Much been said by so Many about Food! The scarcity of Food has brought fear in decision making circles around the world as price hikes hit unprecedented levels. What exactly is happening? How did we get there? Are we just victims of Malthusian prophecies? What are the short and medium term, small and large scale solutions to the food shortages affecting Cameroon and other countries? Have we snubbed our local staples for imported food thereby creating less incentives for local farmers to sustain production? So many questions awaiting answers...
In this Issue, our Editors, Correspondents and Contributors have touched the heart of the matter. Before attempting an analysis of the origins of the crisis, we observe the reaction of World Leaders and Organisations while they lay down action plans to tackle this crisis.
Click here to download, print or read this issue of SS magazine
We use this opportunityto zoom into Cameroon where the government is setting up strategies to re-launch agricultural production to meet up with growing national and sub-regional needs. Hope this Food Crisis becomes an opportunity for our dear fatherland to dive back into the waves of yet another Green Revolution that will bring food back into the markets and unto our tables.
The need for an in-depth expert analysis of the Food Crisis takes us to Atlanta Georgia where we meet the Cameroonian-born Agro-Economist Chief Dr. Greg Fonsah, a Success Story and globetrotter in the domain of agricultural economics. While diagnosing the main causes of the situation in Cameroon, he takes us into the world of agriculture and proposes short and long term solutions that could be applied.
How are Cameroonian Consumers facing the food scarcity and price hikes? Have the measures that were taken recently by Government to increase purchasing power, curtail price speculation and reduce the importation duties on some basic commodities, been effective? We did approach Dr. Essoungou Ndemba Emmanuel, the President of the Association for the Defense of Consumers (APDC) to provide some answers to these questions.
International Organisations operating in the domain of Food have been very active recently . We visit Bamako in Mali for a chat with another Success Story Mrs. Alice Etondi Martin-Daihirou, the Resident Representative of the World Food Program, who provides yet another brilliant analysis of the food shortage from her organization’s perspective.
You will remember that the Global Food Crisis was preceded by the Real Estate Crisis in the United States of America. To let you understand how the Real Estate business in the US works and why it was touched lately, we visited Atlanta’s Cameroonian-born Real Estate Guru Esther Ayuk for a comprehensive and enriching explanation. We know that Cameroonians living in the States will be beneficiaries to this exchange with the Guru.
Dear Reader, after much talk about food and housing, we take you the one-week Cinema Festival dubbed ECRANS NOIRS that started in Yaounde on May 31st 2008 with the theme: Women - Cinema - Audiovisual, and promoted by the very dynamic film producer Bassek Ba Khobio.
Our concerns for film production in Cameroon and Women provide an opportunity for us to reach Connecticut and chat with a dynamic playwright, actress and forerunner in movie production, Dr. Joyce Ashutantang who gives us a good insight into the world of Cameroonian literary works in English while outlining challenges faced by the movie industry in Cameroon. Her explanations deepen not only our understanding but open avenues for hopes that Cameroonian Cinema holds a brighter future. Certainly, we all have to become actors and support this cultural industry. West Africans are many miles ahead even though we have a richer cultural potential.
We join the Orthodox Church in Douala to welcome its First Cameroonian-born Bishop. Debates at the recent Coffee, Think & Talk forum in Yaounde also attracted our attention and participation as they focused on Corruption. We also hail efforts by La Dynamique Citoyenne to reinforce the capacities of Civil Society Organisations in the South West Province in monitoring the use of Debt Relief Funds.
We join happy families of the Martins and Tchwenkos in Limbe to celebrate the union of Etondi and Samuel in Limbe. May the Lord bless this Union. Our prayers, candles and ribbons also accompany Maloke to a well merited rest.
Enjoy Your Reading, Dear Reader, and do contribute positive stories about Cameroon to our pages , whenever you feel inspired, for No matter how bad your House is, you don’t use your left hand to paint it!
Click here to download, print or read this issue of SS magazine
Tonge B. Ebai (Success Story Editor-in-Chief)
Comments