DASNR
International
Study Abroad
Student of the Week

Home Country :
Cameroon

The Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. It borders Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the Bight of Bonny, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. The country is called "Africa in miniature" for its geological and cultural diversity. Natural features include beaches, deserts, mountains, rainforests, and savannas. The highest point is Mount Cameroon in the southwest, and the largest cities are Douala, Yaoundé, and Garoua. Cameroon is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups. The country is well known for its native styles of music, particularly makossa and bikutsi, and for its successful national football team. English and French are the official languages.

Compared with other African countries, Cameroon enjoys political and social stability. This has permitted the development of agriculture, roads, railways, and large petroleum and timber industries. Nevertheless, large numbers of Cameroonians live in poverty as subsistence farmers. Power lies firmly in the hands of the president, Paul Biya, and his Cameroon People's Democratic Movement party, and corruption is widespread. The Anglophone community has grown increasingly alienated from the government, and Anglophone politicians have called for greater decentralisation and even the secession of the former British-governed territories.

Cameroon 's natural resources are better suited to agriculture and forestry than to industry. An estimated 70% of the population farms, and agriculture comprised an estimated 45.2% of GDP in 2006. Most agriculture is done at the subsistence scale by local farmers using simple tools. They sell their surplus produce, and some maintain separate fields for commercial use. Urban centres are particularly reliant on peasant agriculture for their foodstuffs. Soils and climate on the coast encourage extensive commercial cultivation of bananas, cocoa, oil palms, rubber, and tea. Inland on the South Cameroon Plateau, cash crops include coffee, sugar, and tobacco. Coffee is a major cash crop in the western highlands, and in the north, natural conditions favour crops such as cotton, groundnuts, and rice. Reliance on agricultural exports makes Cameroon vulnerable to shifts in their prices.

Livestock are raised throughout the country. Fishing employs some 5,000 people and provides 20,000 tons of seafood each year. Bushmeat, long a staple food for rural Cameroonians, is today a delicacy in the country's urban centres. The commercial bushmeat trade has now surpassed deforestation as the main threat to wildlife in Cameroon.

The southern rainforest has vast timber reserves, estimated to cover 37% of Cameroon's total land area. However, large areas of the forest are difficult to reach. Logging, largely handled by foreign-owned firms, provides the government US$60 million a year, and laws mandate the safe and sustainable exploitation of timber. Nevertheless, in practice, the industry is one of the least regulated in Cameroon. Source: Wikipedia.

 

Solomon Anagho
Steve Sulem
Abbo Zalalou
November 2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Borlaug Fellows from Cameroon ....


In the photo above, Vice-President Whitson welcomes Borlaug Fellows Abbo Zalalou, Steve Sulem and Solomon Anagho to Oklahoma State University.

This week’s international student of the week is a group of three visiting scholars from Cameroon. They all were awarded Borlaug Fellowships in 2007. They arrived on October 17, 2007 to Des Moines, Iowa to participate in the Borlaug International Symposium and the ceremony for the World Food Prize 2007. Solomon, Abbo, and Steve decided to continue their fellowships at OSU until November 2007.

Dr. Solomon Anagho is a PhD in Chemical Engineering who graduated in 1987 in Lagos, Nigeria. He speaks English, French, and Ngwo (his mother tongue). Solomon is married to Philomena Bih and has 4 children (three girls and a boy). In his free time Solomon participates in development activities in his village.

Solomon chose OSU because it is one of the 10 major academic centers that has the program that fits his research interest in Bio-energy and Biomass. He is planning to return to Cameroon more equipped with additional ideas in his research area, and apply them in his teaching at the University of Dschang, a State University of 12,000 students.

Solomon advises other international students to grab as much know-how as you can from OSU, and take it back to your respective countries for developmental activities there.

Dr. Mark Wilkins of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering is his mentor at OSU.


In the photo above, the Borlaug Fellows visit the largest cattle auction in the United States, the Oklahoma City Stockyards.

Mr. Abbo Zalalou is an Economist graduated from the University of Yaounde in Cameroon. He speaks French, English, Arabic, and Fulfulde. In his free time he enjoys watching TV programs or swimming in the pool or the ocean.

Abbo comes from a family who live in the Northern part of Cameroon; they are farmers and have some cattle rearing. Abbo is the first family member who has obtained an advanced education. His family relies on him to provide education and health services. He went to evening school in difficult conditions. Despite his struggles and no economic assistance he has been able to excel in life.

Abbo chose OSU because it is a lovely campus and also has and amazing agricultural program. He is planning to go back to Cameroon and operate more efficiently to alleviate poverty and improve the living standard of the population there.

Abbo's advice to students is to be self-confident and act positive and think about the development issues of the third world countries.

Abbo's Borlaug program mentor is Dr. Shida Henneberry in the Department of Agricultural Economics


In the photo above, Abbo Zalalou and Steve Sulem visit with the local high school orchestra director, Mr. Scott Jackson, after the Halloween concert.

Mr. Steve Yong Sulem is a PhD candidate in fisheries and aquaculture at the University of Sciences and Technology in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. He speaks English, French, Kom, and Fulfulde. He is a member of the Fish Farming Demonstration Association in Cameroon. Steve came from a big family, he has five daughters and two of them are in College studying human and natural sciences respectively. One of his daughters is in high school and the remaining two are in elementary school. In his free time Steve enjoys talking to people and also playing court tennis and table tennis.

Steve did not chose OSU but it was assigned to him from his fellowship committee. However, Steve thinks that if he has to choose right now he definitely would choose OSU because people here are really friendly. His future plans are to contribute to create a Center to supply fish farming inputs and technical assistant to Central African Countries.

Steve advises international students to “define the current problems in the fields and conceive clear roots of the solution before discussing them with OSU authorities in viewing of seeking solutions.”

 

Drs. Joe Bidwell and Andy Dzialowski from the Department of Zoology are Steve's Borlaug Program Mentors.

 

Interview by Sandra Rodriguez.