The politics of farmer–herder conflicts and alternative conflict management in Northwest Cameroon

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the history and political economy of farmer-herder conflicts using field surveys to advance the theoretical understanding of the linkages between agro-pastoralism and farmer-herder conflicts in Northwest Cameroon (NWC). Although the political ecological factors of environmental change and irrational land use policies seem to be the main drivers of farmer-herder conflicts, economic interests of the colonial and postcolonial administrations of Cameroon greatly contributed to the rise and persistence of farmer-herder conflicts in NWC. Using expert and indigenous agro-ecological knowledge, this study identified alternative farmer-herder conflict management  strategies, providing a platform for sustainable agro-pastoral development.

KEYWORDS:

• Farmer–herder conflicts
• alternative conflict management
• Northwest Cameroon
• agro-pastoral resources
• indigenous agroecological knowledge
• sustainable agro-pastoral development

Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to the two anonymous reviewers and the editor of this journal for helpful comments. I also thank William Moseley and Raymond Tutu for their useful suggestions in the earlier versions of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Richard Achia Mbih

Richard Achia Mbih is an Assistant Teaching Professor of African Studies in the African Studies Program at the Pennsylvania State University. His research focuses on agro-pastoral sustainability and food security, political ecology, environment and development in Sub-Saharan Africa.