Abstract

This study delves into material poverty among CDC workers in Tiko and Limbe Municipalities. It sets out the five objectives; to examine the material poverty among CDC workers, to present the state of material poverty, to examine the factors of material poverty, to investigate the implications of material poverty, and to propose suggestions to curb material poverty. To achieve these objectives, research questions were asked which were related to the specific objectives.

In order to study the material poverty among CDC workers in Tiko and Limbe Municipalities, an analysis was done on the standard of or living conditions of workers in the camps focusing on their housing condition, health (hygiene and sanitation), working condition and salary earned per worker in the CDC camps of Tiko and Limbe which were brought under study in which the Chi-Square was used to analyzed and test the hypothesis. The analysis shows that there is a high rate of material poverty among CDC workers in the camps of Tiko and Limbe.

Empirical evidence shows that although CDC is the second employer after the government in Cameroon and making billions of CFA Franc per year and the workers or laborers are at the center of the economic growth of the corporation, they are yet to fully benefit from the proceeds of the plantation. The lack of significant improvements in residential and income standards of the multitude of CDC workers contradicts the plight of the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) as a development agent. This study, therefore, opens up the living and working conditions of the CDC workers. It, therefore, looks beyond the gross economic output by proving knowledge on what trickles down to the underprivileged majority.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.0 Background of the Study

In work, poverty is often perceived as a distinct phenomenon, something different from ordinary poverty that affects the unemployed, the retired, and groups at the margins of society. Forty percent of the world’s population subsists on less than 2 dollars a day, and twenty percent on less than 1.25 dollars per day.

Living in extreme poverty (World Bank 2010). Although poverty is decreasing, it is still a widespread and tenacious problem with causes, effects, and potential solutions to individual, institution, and structural levels.

Whilst Mahatma Gandhi called the problems faced by these resource-poor people the worst form of violence, Amartya sen defines them as lack of freedom and inability to make life choices (sen2001). Others defined them in terms of high mortality rates, ill health, or as a monetary issue. Fundamentally, poverty is a denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity.

It means not having enough to feed and clothe a family, not having a school or clinic to go to, not having land on which to grow one’s food or a job to earn one’s living, not having access to credit, it means insecurity, powerless and exclusion of individuals, households, and communities. It means susceptibility to violence and often implies living in marginal or fragile environments, without access to clean water or sanitation (United Nation Organization).

While global poverty rates have been cut by more than half since 2000, one ten people in developing regions still live on less than USS 1.90 a day which is below the internationally agreed poverty line, and millions of others live on slightly more than this daily amount.

Significant progress has been made in many countries within Eastern and southern Asia, but up to 42 percent of the population in sub-Saharan African countries still lives below the poverty line. One of the sustainable development goals by the United Nations Organization under the Department of Economic and social and SOCIAL Affairs (DESA) which is ‘Ending poverty in all its forms is the first of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) OF THE 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.

The goal can be achieved through ensuring significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources, development cooperation, implement programs and policies to end poverty in all dimensions.

The SDGs also aim to create sound policy frame workers at national and regional levels, based on pro-poor and gender-sensitive development strategies to ensure that by 2030 all men and women have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership, and control over land other forms of poverty, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology, and financial services, including microfinance. There has been marked progress in reducing poverty over the past decades.

According to the most recent estimates, in 2015, 10 percent of the world’s population lived at or below S 1.90 a day. That’s down from 16 percent in 2010 and 36 percent in 1990. The means that ending extreme poverty is within our reach. However, the declines have slowed in April 2013, they set a goal to end extreme poverty in a generation.

Poverty analysis is currently undergoing a multidimensional turn, increasing moving beyond an exclusive focus on income-centric or otherwise on dimensions forms or what might be called material poverty.

Material poverty is defined as the shortage or insufficiency of material aspects needed by individuals in order to survive material aspects can be divided into two that is absolute material poverty which means lack of means to meet basic necessary needs such as shelter, food, and clothe. While relative material poverty takes into consideration social and economic status compared to the rest of the society.

Material poverty exists in every society as long as the elements of society are involved. It is one of the problems of international aspect where many people are affected leading to different problems. Material poverty provides information from a wider set of dimensions which reflects the many different ways in which human life can be impoverished. The multi-dimensions perspective can be argued.

Not only provides a more accurate reflection of the experience of poverty itself, but potentially also influences who we identify as being poor, which is a task of considerable public policy importance, This turn towards multidimensionality can be motivated by a range of conceptual frameworks, but one of these and one which is itself receiving an increasing amount of attention is the capability approach developed initially by economist and philosopher Amartya Sen, The capability approach argues that in analyzing material poverty, our focus should be on what people are able to do and be, and not just on what they have ( i.e. their resources ), or how they feel. Since what people can do and be is inherently multi-dimensional, the capability approach provides a theatrical justification for adopting a multi-dimensional conceptualization of material poverty.

Globally, workers of agro-businesses and companies faced the problem of material poverty especially in countries like Latin America, South East Asia, and Malaysia. The presence of these plantations has being greeted with a lot of fanfare as they believe to be agents of economic growth, social and infrastructural development (Kimengsi&Lambi, 2015; Forba, 2015; Fossung, 2001). No doubt these plantations are good revenue generators and as such, they could be described as development agents.

However, a close look at the living conditions of the majority of people reveals the basic development indices (shelter, food, water, and cloth) for development seem to be far-fetch (cited in Karush, 1274). In major plantation camps in the world such as the East Kalimantan and in the Haitian sugar cane plantations, similar situations of material poverty are observed (Haug, 2010; cooper, 2006).

Most plantations have been characterized by growth that does not benefit the workers. For instance, in the Philippines plantation development was ineffective in delivering growth that benefited the poor; the export-oriented was controlled by the landed elite, who adversely incorporated the poor into their plantations (chronic poverty research center 2009).In Latin America, we have countries like Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, Chile, and Colombia, etc.

One of the main agro-plantation is the coffee plantation in Colombia where coffee is being cultivated. Coffee workers are the backbones behind the coffee industry at large without the presence of these workers, they will be unable to harvest the crops, and the rest of the supply chain will be disturbed. Several decades ago, Brazil relied on slaves and immigrant labor to pick coffee, while in other countries; workers had their lands expropriated by wealthier farmers forcing them to work on lands they use to won in exchange for low wages.

Coffee pickers in Honduras are paid low beyond the minimum wage set by the Honduras labour ministry and workers in Guatemala face the same issue. We also have the problem of poor work and housing conditions as many lack access to clean water and limited spaces so workers and their families are overcrowded in limited spaces which lack good sewage and waste removal.

Moving to South East Asia where we have countries like China, India, and Malaysia with big agro-companies. The plantation industry is a crucial part of Malaysia’s economy. He is the world leader in palm oil and natural rubber production and the cultivation of the crops is the main agricultural activity in the country. Apart from the smallholders who depend on these commodities for their livelihood, there are also wage laborers employed by the plantation company.

In 2005, an estimated 1,268,500 people were employed in the agriculture and fishery sector, which includes farm workers, plantation workers, and forestry workers, and the majority were concentrated in the farm and plantation sectors. In recent years, the consumer Association of Penang (CAP) has been working with workers on oil palm and rubber plantations on the Peninsula. They have been involved in occupational health and safety issues, the fight for better wages, securing basic needs such as housing, health and sanitation, and other social issues.

In Africa, most especially Western Africa where we have countries like Cameroon, Nigeria, Angola, and Ivory Coast. These areas are concentrated with many agro-industries like UNILEVER AFRICAN OPERATIONS which is a British-Dutch multinational consumer goods corporation whose products reach 2 billion consumers in over 190 countries making it one of the world’s top 500 largest corporations employing 40,000 people on the continent in offices and factories in 40 locations.

One of the main objectives of this company is that it strives to treat its employees well at least to companies of the same size and understands the need to give back to the community and environment where its employees are found but notwithstanding the forms still suffer some form of material poverty like low wages, housing condition including poor health and sanitation.

The latitudinal location and the favorable climatic conditions has favor plantation agriculture in Africa. The growing agriculture footprint in Nigeria has the highest cultivated landscape in Africa with a percentage of 41.5 in 2013. The Southern zones of Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, and Benin have the fastest rate of agricultural spread with the presence of plantations. Despite the presence of these plantations in the west part of Africa, high rate of employment.

And profits they make both at home and in the world market, the plantation workers are the ones suffering from the harsh policies and decisions made by the company owners. Such as the case of the workers of the Okomu plantation that produces palm oil and NOKO10 rubber brand. The working conditions are very poor.

Due to the expansion of the plantation, workers and the local population are being forced out of their homes to neighboring villages where about 80 percent are squatting exposing them to poor living conditions and poverty.

Since the homes of workers and their properties were destroyed and were forced to leave the land to other areas, those who could afford to transfer themselves to work and back continue working in the plantation but their salaries were barely enough to take care of their basic needs and their rights were constantly being violated. While those who could not migrate lost their jobs and went into poverty (business-humanrights.org).

Cameroon which is one of the Anglo-Saxon countries is an example of market employment regimes in which the relation between capital and labor is characterized by non-intervention on the part of the state (Visser et al., 2009). Given that these are more self-regulated market regimes, we expect to find that differentials between employment statuses primarily reflect skill differences.

However, the existence of minimal employment regulation could result to a relatively high risk of polarization among more vulnerable groups at the margins of the labour market (Gallie, 2007). Plantation agriculture under CDC, SOCAPALM, and PAMOL among others are the legacies of European administration. CDC registers annual revenue of 50 billion CFC. The corporation is one of the main contributors to development in Cameroon.

However, conceptualizing development in terms of inequality reduction through the increase in social benefited to disadvantaged groups paints a completely different picture of the corporation. Empirical work shows that although labourers are central to the corporation’s economic success, they are yet to benefit from the proceeds of plantation agriculture.

The lack of significant improvements in residential and income standards of a multitude of the CDC farm labourers contradicts the view of the corporation as a development agent. The corporation has seemingly maintained a deplorable social responsibility record wherein farm laborers are the sacrificial lambs in the quest for increased economic output which is proclaimed as development (Kimengsi & Lambi, 2015; Forba, 2015; Fossung, 2001).

1.2 Problem Statement

Material poverty among CDC workers is a very important issue due to its numerous effect on the standard of living and livelihood of the workers especially those living in the camps (water tank and upper coastal).CDC is a rich agro-industrial company and the second-largest employer in Cameroon after the government. Looking at the employments that they offer, budget, extension, we may think that they are rich. But how can we explain that these workers (employees) are facing the problem of material poverty?

1.2.1 Main Question

1. How can we understand and explain material poverty among the CDC workers?
2. How can we understand and explain that workers in a rich company like CDC are materially poor?

1.2.2 Specific Questions

1. What is the state of material poverty among CDC workers in Tiko and Limbe Municipalities?
2. What are the aspects of material poverty among CDC workers in Tiko and Limbe Municipalities?
3. What are the implications of material poverty among CDC workers in Tiko and Limbe Municipalities?
4. How can material poverty be curbed to improve the living standards of the CDC workers in Tiko and Limbe Municipalities?