By Ntungwe Elias Ngalame
YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AlertNet) Â? When visitors arrived in Yaounde recently for the 8th annual meeting of the African Road Maintenance Funds Association, they got an odd greeting from a Cameroon host delegate.
"Yaounde, a city flanked by seven hills, is an environmentally friendly place with a traditional charming cold climate in the early mornings and late evenings. We are, however experiencing strange persistent rains over the past months that require our visitors to arm themselves with the necessary equipment Â? raincoats, warm clothes, umbrellas Â? to cope with the changes," warned Tsimi Evouna, a government delegate to the meeting.
Residents of Cameroon's capital are suffering through a climate nightmare this year as heavy rains that have fallen since January flood streets and homes in what is normally a dry period of the year.
"Formerly there were at least four months of dry season with rains in April to November and the dry season characterized by persistent sunshine from December to March. Strangely, however, we have had rains throughout this year," said Elvis Mbong, a worker with the Ministry of Agriculture in Yaounde.
While most city inhabitants have not heard of or do not clearly understand the concept of climate change, Mbong said, "they are all witnessing the effects as they try to cope with the changes."
Many in Yaounde, a city of 2.5 million people, have adopted different lifestyles to deal with changes in climate patterns.
RAINBOOTS NOW PERMANENT FOOTWEAR
Mama Susan, 49, a "buyam-sellam" trader who lives in a squalid shelter she calls home in the Etoug-ebe quarter, says rain boots have become her permanent footwear
"I put on my rain boots regularly to go to the market, church or social gatherings because I cannot risk damaging my leather shoes in water. We have been having persistent rains and floods for the past five months," she lamented.
Like Etoug-ebe, many quarters in the capital city have been virtually submerged in water, with many alleyways leading to homes covered by floods.
Lum, 26, an unemployed woman, said three days of incessant rain and floods had rendered her a prisoner in her home, unable to get to the nearest market for food.
Most households in Yaounde have learned to stock their homes with abundant food to avoid falling prey to being trapped by incessant rains and floods. But even food traders are complaining of food scarcity because of limited supplies arriving in the city from farmers in neighbouring villages.
Most market women now have to walk long distances under very difficult conditions to resupply their stalls because the roads linking farms and markets have been rendered practically impassable because of the heavy rains.
"We are obliged to hire four-wheel-drive vehicles and consequently pay more for transport because of the bad state of the roads. This of course means increase in the prices of food stuff. Most often we spend three to four days on the way to get to Yaounde, with many of our food items like plantain and vegetable getting destroyed" enroute, lamented Mammy Nvongo, 52, a "buyam sellam" in Mokolo market.
FOOD PRICES UP
Needless to say, the consumer in the capital city who is the end user of these products is bearing the brunt of these difficulties, paying almost double the usual prices for farm products.
School authorities in the capital city are also adapting to the changing weather. Some have begun suggesting warm clothes for their students, including a pullover, and raincoats to keep the cold and rain at bay.
"We have advised our students to put on warm clothes to avoid catching a cold," said Nelson Ambe, the principal of JEMEA Memorial College Biyem-Assi. He blames the persistent cold, even during the day, on climate change.
Some in Yaounde, however, are still undecided about whether the ongoing problems are a result of climate shifts.
Christopher Nzake, a Jehovah's Witnesses follower, thinks the changing weather may be a fulfillment of prophecies in the Bible.
"The Bible has rightly prophesied that signs of the end of time will include floods, incessant rains, thunder and other calamities that will destroy mankind," he noted.
Environment experts, however, reject such claims. Cletus Ebong of Environment Watch, an NGO on environmental issues in Yaounde, says climate change is principally caused by human activity, threatening human life and biodiversity in a scale that has never been experienced before.
The situation, he emphasized, could lead to increased poverty for millions of people and even deaths if nothing is done.
WORSENING POVERTY A RISK
"Statistics show that one of the worst impacts of climate change, especially in developing countries like Cameroon, is poverty. Though poor countries cannot be blamed for the emissions that cause global warming, they are unfortunately one of the worst hit," he said.
According to the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, climate change is a process of global warming which is in part attributable to the greenhouse gas generated by human activity. The accompanying changes are likely to be both global, as with rising sea levels attributable to ice-melt, and local, such as changes in rainfall pattern.
Responses to climate change can either seek to reduce the level or rate of change (mitigation) or manage its consequences (adaptation). The report says that climate change will likely reinforce already existing problems in most poor countries, which is why a strong political effort is necessary to either mitigate the problem or manage the consequences.
One of the most vulnerable activities to the effects of climate change in Cameroon is agriculture, which accounts for over 70 percent of national employment and about 40 percent of land use.
Agriculture is highly dependent on climate, and farming patterns applied today might not work under future climatic conditions, agricultural officials say. That means there is a need to devise strategies now on how to adapt to the problem and to sensitize farmers and the general population on climate change and its possible effects, especially on farming.
Officials in Cameroon have developed a national climate change adaptation program and are taking steps to mitigate emissions as well, including launching a campaign to plant 10,000 new trees in Yaounde.
Ntungwe Elias Ngalame is an award-winning environmental writer with Cameroon's Eden newspaper, and this article first appeared there.
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