A Legal Appraisal of the Role of Foreign Direct Investment in Promoting Sustainable Development in Cameroon: A Focus on Food Security

Abstract

Since the promulgation of the Cameroon Investment Charter of 2002 and subsequent liberalization reforms, FDI has been strategically mobilized as an instrument to modernize agriculture through capital inflows, mechanization, technology transfer, and agro-industrial development. However, the outcomes have been ambivalent: while investment has spurred export growth, employment creation, and infrastructural expansion, it has also exacerbated land tenure disputes, environmental degradation, displacement of smallholder farmers, and the prioritization of cash crops over staple foods. Despite Cameroon’s agricultural endowment, food insecurity persists, with nearly one in four citizens experiencing chronic hunger and malnutrition. Against this backdrop, this study examines the nexus between Foreign Direct Investment and food security in Cameroon, situating the discourse within the aspirations of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). Findings reveals both opportunities and systemic risks: increased yields, market integration, and nutrition programs on one hand, and monoculture expansion, governance failures, and inequitable distribution on the other. We therefore recommend the need for sound institutional frameworks, transparent land governance, equitable labor practices, and complementary national policies that safeguard domestic food needs while leveraging foreign capital for sustainable transformation. This will go a long way for charting a development trajectory that is economically inclusive, socially just, and environmentally sustainable for Cameroon.