The
local manifestations of a globally enforced market-driven economy have
changed Cameroonian society. The marginalized have no longer access to
basic goods and services necessary for their adequate survival.
Subsistence farmers have been expelled from their fields for the
plantations of agro- exportbusinesses. Local communities are disrupted
by the practices of lumber, oil and mining companies. At an alarming
pace Cameroon's rich and highly diverse tropical rainforests are
disappearing to satisfy foreign markets. Cameroon's debt service
burdens the nation's ability to tend to the population's need for
agriculture, education, health care and infra structure. Cameroonian
traditions and customs that used to express values of solidarity for
the communal good are becoming extinct. Religious communities at
large has turned inward, not heeding their duty to plea for
the poor and the oppressed.
Cultural as well as religious
traditions teach communities inclusiveness and solidarity. As a
Cameroonian faith-based network, RELUFA stresses the importance of
recognizing, identifying with and strengthening those values.
Strategic Program
Equity and Transparency in the Extractive Industries
RELUFA
is actively involved in advocacy initiatives for Economic Justice in the Extractive
Industries of Central Africa. The network is advocating the plight of
communities effected by the Chad Cameroon Oil and Pipeline Project and is as founding member of the Cameroonian branch actively involved in the worldwide Publish What You Pay (PWYP) resource revenue management transparency campaign. PWYP calls for mandatory disclosure of all financial transactions by oil-, gas-, and mining companies to their host government.
Trade Justice
RELUFA monitors the developments surrounding the banana trade in Cameroon in general and the fruits farmers in Njombe in particular. The network is in the process of establishing alliances within Cameroon's Civil Society to adress the impacts of Economic Partnership Agreements on small producers in Cameroon.
An alternative is being offered to victimized famers as well as consumers through its Fair Fruit project with 100% natural dried mango, pineapple, and papaya. A Fair Trade partnership has been established with Partners for Just Trade, which distributes the fruit in the US. Advocacy activities in solidarity with the subsistence farmers of Njombe are being considered.
Capacity building program
In its training activities, RELUFA seeks to:
- Enhance the understanding of religious values and traditions on human economic interactions
- Reassert the value of cultural practices and expressions of solidarity in money-less communities
- Build awareness about logics and mechanisms of the market economy
- Increase understanding in the dynamics of the current global economy
- Enhance understanding of Fair Trade as alternative
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