At dawn, in the Mbende neighborhood of Limbe, a seaside town in the South-West region of Cameroon, Vivian Njie, 89 years old, lit her wood fire. That morning, the pot placed on it was not empty.
Inside, long-grain white rice, donated by China a few weeks earlier, was simmering gently. “Before, we used to cook a small amount of rice and divide it into five plates,” said this grandmother of 15 grandchildren as she stirred a large pot meant for the 19 people in her household. “Today, my grandchildren will eat until they say: ‘I am full.’ Just that is already a relief.”
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For nearly a decade, the English-speaking regions of the North-West and South-West of Cameroon have been facing a separatist armed conflict. Farms have been abandoned, market access has become dangerous, and cultivated areas have decreased by 20 to 40% in the most affected zones, leading to a rise in food prices.
At the beginning of 2026, humanitarian agencies estimated that 2.9 million people in Cameroon, including 1.5 million children, were in need of aid.
It is in this context that aid from China arrived. In June, Cameroon received a donation from China that included 1,630 tons of rice and 880 tons of wheat intended for the regions affected by the conflict.
To date, 9,000 bags of rice have been transported to Buea, the capital of the South-West region, where distribution has already begun. About 10,700 other bags have been sent to Bamenda to be distributed in the North-West region.
In Limbe, the mayor, Paul Efome Ngalle, supervised the handover of rice to community leaders. He stated that this aid arrived at a time when the city was “pushed to its limits.”
“This rice donation from China is not just food. It is solidarity. Many vulnerable groups in our municipality have truly benefited from this aid,” he added.
At a distribution point in Buea, families queued with their ration cards. Each household received rice.
James Nkemasong, 48, fled his village in the Lebialem department two years ago with his wife and their five children. He now rents a single room in Buea.
“This rice will feed us for weeks,” he said, loading a 25-kilogram bag on his shoulder. “The situation has been really difficult for me and my family. We barely have three meals a day. But this rice has brought us relief.”
A feeling shared in Muyuka, another town in the South-West, where Judith Mbah, 38, cooks for 12 displaced people. “The rice from China is tender and does not consume much firewood,” she explained. “We mix it with beans and a little oil. The children call it ‘delicious rice’ and ask for it every day.”
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Upon arrival in Limbe, the rice was not only intended for people displaced by the conflict. It was also meant to benefit all those who had nothing left.
In early August, heavy rains fell on this coastal city located at the foot of Mount Cameroon. Runoff waters rushed down the slopes without being able to evacuate. Neighborhoods were flooded and landslides destroyed homes. Three people lost their lives.
For a community already strained by displacements related to the separatist conflict, the floods constituted a new crisis: they caused not only housing losses but also food losses.
John Molua lost a large part of his belongings in the floods. “The rain keeps falling. But this rice has brought us stability and hope for several weeks. Most of the victims received it and we were very relieved. It arrived when we needed it,” he testified.
The economic and commercial counselor of the Chinese embassy in Cameroon, Xiao Guofeng, indicated that this donation was part of the ten concrete actions announced at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit in Beijing in 2024.
“This food donation is a concrete example of the friendship between China and Cameroon. It embodies China’s policy towards Africa, based on the principles of sincerity, solidarity, friendship, and frankness, as well as a good understanding of friendship and common interests,” he said.
The mayor of Limbe, Mr. Ngalle, emphasized that this gesture reflects more than 55 years of cooperation between Cameroon and China. “This gesture deepens not only relations between nations but also relations between citizens, relations between peoples,” he said.
In Buea and Limbe, where conflicts and floods have severely tested families, these bags of rice thus fulfill their primary purpose: helping people to hold on.
Back in Mbende, Njie served the rice. Her grandchildren ate quickly before going out to play. She watched them smiling. In a region that has known so much suffering, a steaming plate of rice rekindles hope, bowl after bowl.
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