Natural Resource Endowment and the Fallacy of Development in Cameroon

364 Pages·2019·10.542 MB·English

by  Lotsmart Fonjong

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Natural Resource Endowment
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Cameroon is rich in petroleum, minerals, tropical forests, wildlife, water systems, p
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fertile lands, and much more. Paradoxically however, most citizens live in abject n
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poverty and without jobs, potable water, electricity, good healthcare and roads. no
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Th is book is a thoughtful interrogation of some of the structural factors driving inm

persistent poverty in Cameroon in the midst of natural resource abundance. It Ce
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engages in a multidimensional critical analysis of the impact of natural resources mt

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on basic development indicators and concludes that good resource governance and en
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sound management are the missing link. Natural resources alone will not create o t
socio-economic prosperity void of good management with a clear development nh
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vision and strategy in Cameroon. Th e book assembles a wide diversity of analysis,
views, perspectives and recommendations from economists, development experts,
social and political scientists, on Cameroon’s current development inertia. What
emerges in the end is a coherent interdisciplinary analysis of the natural resource-
development paradox as it plays out in an African setting. Th eories and good
practices from Africa and beyond are systematically applied to identify and critique
present policy and management approaches while providing alternative options
that can unlock Cameroon’s natural resource wealth for national prosperity.
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LOTSMART FONJONG is Professor of Geography at the University of Buea. He holds a t
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PhD in Geography (University of Yaoundé 1), MA in Development Studies, (University m
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Common Initiative Group
P.O. Box 902 Mankon
Bamenda
North West Region
Cameroon
Natural Resource Endowment
and the Fallacy of
Development in Cameroon

Edited by
Lotsmart Fonjong

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PPublisher:
Langaa RPCIG
Langaa Research & Publishing Common Initiative Group
P.O. Box 902 Mankon
Bamenda
North West Region
Cameroon
[email protected]
www.langaa-rpcig.net

Distributed in and outside N. America by African Books Collective
[email protected]
www.africanbookscollective.com

ISBN-10: 9956-551-24-4
ISBN-13: 978-9956-551-24-8

© Lotsmart Fonjong 2019

All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying and recording, or be
stored in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission
from the publisher

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List of Contributors

Njimanted Godfrey Forgha is Professor of Economics and
Quantitative Methods at the University of Bamenda, Cameroon. He
obtained his Masters’ and PhD Degrees from the University of
Calabar Cross River State Nigeria in 2001 and 2004 respectively. He
was recruited as Senior Instructor by the University of Buea
Cameroon, where he was confirmed as Assistant Lecturer in 2005.
By 2006, he was promoted to the rank of lecturer, then Associate
Professor of Economics in 2011 and full Professor of Economics in
2016. Professor Njimanted has authored/co-authored 52 articles in
several referred Journals and three book chapters in and out of
Cameroon. He has participated in several national and international
Seminars during which he presented three keynote papers. In the
process, he received several International Grants, including Council
for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa
(CODESRIA) Inter-Faculty Grant in 2008, and the European
American Grant on the project ‘Economic Development and Sustainability’
in 2016. His research interest is in the areas of Economic
Development and as a scholar, holds a lot of proficiency and
scholarship towards Africa transformation via indigenous growth
policies. He represented Cameroon in the ‘Collaborative Think Tank
Symposium’ in China in 2012.Email: [email protected]

Lotsmart Fonjong is Professor of Geography at the Faculty of
Social and Management Sciences, University of Buea, Cameroon. He
holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Yaounde 1,
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evre Cameroon, an M.A. in Development Studies, from the University of
ser sth Leeds, UK, and a Certificate in International Human Rights from the
gir llA University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He served as Adjunct Assistant
.G Professor at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro in 2007,
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gn Universities including James Madison University (2008 and 2018),
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giryp scientific articles on development issues in Africa. His books include
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C Saving the Environment in Sub-Saharan Africa (2015). He has also
served on the board of a number of learned societies including the
Research Committees of Women and Society and currently,
Environment and Society of the International Sociological
Association. Email: [email protected]

Balgah Sounders is Associate Professor and the currently Vice-
Dean in charge of Studies and students Affairs in the Faculty of
Social and Management Sciences where he formerly served as Head
of Geography Department. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master
of Science Degree from the University of Lagos and a PhD from the
University of Buea. He is a specialist in Remote Sensing and it's
applications to Urban Studies, Natural Resource Management and
Land use Dynamics. His current research interest are on Population,
Natural Resource Management and Development studies. Email:
[email protected]

Ernest L. Molua is Associate Professor and the Dean of the Faculty
of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine of the University of Buea,
Cameroon. He is also Director at the Centre for Independent
Development Research (CIDR), Buea, Cameroon. He obtained a
PhD degree in Agricultural Economics from the Georg-August
University of Goettingen in Germany, as well as academic degrees
from the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in
Copenhagen, Denmark and the University of Benin, Nigeria. He is
consultant to the Mathematica Policy Research Corporation,
Washington DC, as well as the World Bank and the United Nations
Development Programme. He is a member of the International
Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE), the African
.de Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE) and the Royal
vre
se Economic Society (RES) of the United Kingdom.
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ir llA .G Fonteh Athanasius Amungwa obtained his PhD at the University
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P of Reading, U.K. in 2000. He had served in the Cameroon Ministry
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2 © Extension and Rural Development and Chair of Social Economy and
thg Family Management at the Higher Technical Teacher Training
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oC College, University of Buea. He has authored 3 books on extension
and rural sociology, co-authored 3 extension booklets on yams,
potatoes and cassava and published several articles in scholarly
journals and presented papers at national and international
conferences. He is a Knight and Officer of the Cameroon Order of
merit. Email: [email protected]

Charles Che Fonchingong holds a Doctorate in Social Policy at the
University of Kent, England. He has lectured at the University of
Buea, Cameroon, was a sessional lecturer at the University of Kent,
and currently a Senior Lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church
University, United Kingdom. He has been a research fellow at the
University of Oxford and served as a collaborating researcher with
the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development
(UNRISD) on the Project –Social and solidarity economy. He is the
author of ‘Growing Old in Cameroon: gender, Vulnerability and
Social Capital’, published by University Press of America. Email:
[email protected]

Frankline Anum Ndi is an independent consultant and researcher
on development issues in Africa. He holds a PhD in Human
Geography (Melbourne University, Australia); an MSc in Rural
Development (Ghent University, Belgium); an MSc in Peace and
Development (Linnaeus University, Sweden) and a BSc in Sociology
and Anthropology (University of Buea, Cameroon). His research
interests include food security; agricultural development and
transformation; rural livelihoods; conservation and development
projects; and land governance and conflict in Africa.
Email: [email protected].
.de
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se Celestin Defo received the MSc in water engineering from the
r sthg University of Dschang in Cameroon in 2006 and a PhD in water
ir llA .G science and technology in 2016 at the Indian Agricultural Research
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thg conference contributions. His research interests cover several aspects
iryp
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pollution and remediation and computer application. Email:
[email protected]

Ethel Ngere Nangia is a Lecturer in the Department of Women
and Gender Studies, University of Buea, Cameroon. She has
authored and co-authored articles in international journals and has
been involved in research work in both private and public institutions
in Cameroon in the domains of health, violence against women, care,
sports, climate change and women’s rights. She is also a gender
consultant and has presented a number of papers in seminars, local
and international conferences. She holds a BA in English, MSc in
Women and Gender Studies and a PhD in Gender and
Development, all from the University of Buea, Cameroon. She is the
current head of service for research in the same University. E-
mail:[email protected]

Mbu Sunday Agbor is currently the Head of Department of the
Department of Management Sciences, University of Buea,
Cameroon. He studied Economics and Monetary Economics at the
Graduate School of Economics, University of Port Harcourt,
Nigeria. He later attended the Universities of Douala and Buea,
Cameroon where he obtained a PhD specializing in Financial
Economics. He teaches many courses in finance, monetary and
financial economics both at the undergraduate and graduate levels at
the Universities of Buea, Institut Universitaire du Golfe the Guinee
(IUC), Institut Universitaire du Grande Ecole des Tropicale
(IUGET), Cameroon and also an Assessor with the Cameroon
General Certificate of Education Board.
.de
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r sthg Fellow and Edward S. Mason Scholar (MCMPA) at the Harvard
ir llA .G Kennedy School of Government, University of Harvard. Prior to
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thg Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus country advisor. He has
iryp
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Chief of the Political Affairs Section and Deputy Head of the United
Nation’s regional office in Bambari; and as Humanitarian Field
Coordinator and Head of Field Offices with the United Nations
Population Fund in the Central African Republic, etc. His current
research interests include peace and security issues, climate change,
governance and democratic deficits, gender and environmental
politics in rural settings in Africa, youth and electoral processes.
Email: [email protected] | [email protected]

Yungong, Theophilus Jong is a development professional with
extensive consulting experience. Some of his consulting stints include
working for Africa Development Interchange Network (ADIN) and
the United Nations Development Programme during the Post-2015
Development Agenda Consultations in Cameroon. He currently
covers the West and Central Africa regions as Senior Policy Analyst
within the Debt Management Department at the African Forum and
Network for Debt and Development - a Pan African civil society
organization based in Harare, Zimbabwe. He has been involved in
research supervision at Euclid University, (Pôle Universitaire
Euclide) - an international intergovernmental university. Theo holds
a Doctorate and Master’s Degrees in Development from Nelson
Mandela University, South Africa and a Bachelor in Geography from
the University of Buea, Cameroon. He also earned a Post-graduate
Diploma in Geo-Information Production and Management (GIS
specialism) from RECTAS (now AFROGIST) at Obafemi Awolowo
University Campus, Nigeria. His professional and academic research
interests include development financing and management,
programme development and management, monitoring and
.de evaluation, information and knowledge management for
vre
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ir llA .G Forbe Hodu Ngangnchi is a PhD candidate in Economics at The
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L .9 African Institute for Development- West Africa in 2012, Project
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2 © Economist for the Cameroon Cross River Gorilla Project and the
thg Director in charge of Technical Operations for the Environment and
iryp
oC Rural Development Foundation. He is currently a Lecturer at the
Higher Institute of Management Studies, HIMS Buea, Buea
Cameroon where he is also Registrar. He is the author and co-author
of several refereed journals articles and conference contributions.
And is best known for his book entitled “Masters Piece Economics”;
a text book for junior secondary school and which is use in all junior
secondary schools in Cameroon. His research interests cover several
aspects of the society, namely, the environmental, development and
socio-political issues. Email: [email protected]

Mukete Emmanuel Mbella received his M.Sc. degree in
Economics from the University of Buea in 2012. In 2014 he became
an Assistant Lecturer of Economics in Catholic University Institute
of Buea. He is the author and Co-author of several refereed journals
articles. He became a member of the American Economic
Association in 2014, and since then he has reviewed many articles in
scientific journals. He became the Head of Department in Catholic
University Institute of Buea and a member of the Catholic University
Institute of Buea Research and Grant committee and his research
interests cover several aspects of Economic Growth and
Development, Environment and Food Security.
Email: [email protected].

Fabinin Nina Akem obtained BSc. and MSc. degrees in Agricultural
Economics and Agribusiness at the University of Buea, Cameroon.
She is currently at the Institute of Agricultural Economics, University
of Kiel, Germany, where she is finishing a PhD and also serves as
Research Associate to the Chair of Agricultural Marketing and Policy.
She has co-authored scientific papers and conference contributions,
.de delivered international talks, and received distinctions. Prior to her
vre
se current position in Germany, she was a teaching assistant at the
r sthg University of Buea as well as researcher at the Centre for
ir llA .G Independent Development Research in Cameroon and worked with
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Nkwetta Ajong Aquilas obtained an MSc Degree in Economics in
2015 and is currently a PhD student in Economics at the University
of Buea, South West Region of Cameroon. He is an Adjunct Lecturer
at the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness,
Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine of the University of
Buea and Economics teacher at GHS Bonadikombo, Limbe. He has
co-authored several articles in peer reviewed local and international
journals and has presented a paper at an international conference. His
research interest is Natural Resources and Environmental
Economics.

Ngeh Roland Nformi received B.Sc. and M.Sc. Geography from
the University of Buea of Cameroon, in 2007 and 2016 respectively.
He is a Second Cycle Secondary School Teacher in Ministry of
Secondary Education upon his graduation with DIPES II Geog
(2011) from the University of Bamenda of Cameroon. He is an
Examiner of Citizenship of Education with the Cameroon General
certificate of Education Board since 2016. His research interests
cover aspects such as institutions, land conflict resolution and
development. Email: [email protected]

Ayemeley Betrand Ayuk is a PhD student in Natural Resources and
Environmental Management, Department of Environmental
Science, Faculty of Science, University of Buea, Cameroon. He
received a BSc (Hons) and MSc (Hons) in Geography from the same
University in 2009 and 2018 respectively. He has experience in the
field of Biodiversity Conservation with previous works at the Limbe
Wildlife Centre, Cameroon. His main research interest is on the
.de management of protected areas. He is currently a course instructor at
vre
se GIPS Institute Science and Technology, Douala where he teaches
r sthg courses on Environmental protection and Ecotourism. Email:
ir llA .G [email protected]
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L .9 from the University of Buea of Cameroon, in 2017. She is a primary
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thg ENIEG Buea under MINESEC. Her research interest covers aspects
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