Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Politico-economic determinants of forestry policy in Cameroon

  • Published:
GeoJournal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Factors that influence the policy choices of forest and environmental policy-makers in developing countries are yet to be completely understood. The study reported in this paper seeks to contribute to efforts addressed to promoting knowledge of these factors. It does so by analyzing the forest and environmental policy and policy field of Cameroon. The field is shown to be crowded, involving entities and individuals with disparate goals. The state emerges as the most powerful stakeholder in the field. It is argued that despite their seemingly inconsistent and contradictory nature, major provisions of Cameroon’s forestry and environmental policy have a unified purpose, viz., to serve the interests of powerful domestic and international stakeholders. It is concluded that the interests of these stakeholders, rather than the country’s national development goals, constitute the major determinant of the policy choices of its forest and environmental policy-makers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The ministerial bodies include the following: (1) Minister of Forestry and Wildlife; (2) Minister Delegate, Minister of the Environment; (3) Minister of Environment and the Protection of Nature; (4) Vice P.M., Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development; (5) Secretary of State, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; (6) Minister of State Property and Land Tenure; (7) Minister of State in charge of Territorial Administration and Decentralization; (8) Minister Delegate, Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization; (9) Secretary of State, Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife; (10) Secretary of State, Ministry of State Property and Land Tenure.

  2. The international actor field of Cameroon’s forestry and environmental policy is comprised of the following major players: the World Bank, international NGOs (e.g., World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Wildlife Conservation International (WCI), Birdlife International); multi-national companies/enterprises (MNCs) dealing in forest products (e.g., international timber harvesting/exporting companies); ODA, European Union, French government, World Trade Organization (WTO), and neighbouring (contiguous) countries (including, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, and Gabon).

  3. Example: Head of State, the Prime Minister, government ministers (especially those heading forestry ministries), members of the National Assembly (MPs), the police, provincial governors, divisional representatives of the ministries of forestry, the environment, rural development), Senior Divisional Officers (SDOs), Divisional Officers (DOs); and state-appointed local leaders.

  4. Source of information: Personal communication.

  5. Based on the author’s familiarity with forest policy field in Cameroon.

  6. Based on the author’s direct observation in the field.

References

  • Abbot, J. I. O., Thomas, D. H. L., Gardner, A. A., Neba, S. E., & Khen, M. W. (2001). Understanding the links between conservation and development in the Bamenda Highlands, Cameroon. World Development, 29(7), 1115–1136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akumsi, A. (2003). Community participation in wildlife management: The mount Cameroon experience. Unasylva, 54(214/215), 37–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Assembe, S. M. (2006). Decentralized forest resources and access of minorities to environmental justice: An analysis of the case of the baka in Southern Cameroon. International Journal of Environmental Studies, 63(5), 681–689.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumann, P. (2002). Improving access to natural resources for the rural poor: A critical analysis of central concepts and emerging trends from a sustainable livelihoods perspective. Livelihood Support Programme (LSP) Working Paper, FAO, UN.

  • Bebbington, A. (2003). Global networks and local developments: Agendas for development geography. Tijdschrift voor Econische en Sociale Geogapfie, 94(3), 297–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brundtland, The Report (1987). Our common future. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brunner, J., & Ekoko, F. (2000). Cameroon. In J. Brunner, N. K. Dubash, F. Ekoko, C. Files, H. Kartodikardjo, J. Mugabe, & F. J. Seymour (Eds.), The right conditions. The World Bank structural adjustment and forest policy reform (pp. 59–82). Washington, DC: World Resources Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cameroon Post (2005). Shipload of illegal timber found in france. (Tuesday, December 20, 2005), http://www.postnewsline.com/2005/12/shipload_of_ill.html. Retrieved, January 18, 2008.

  • Cameroon Post (2007). Tax commission wants communities to enjoy forestry revenue. (Fri. 21 Dec. 2007). http://www.postnewsline.com/2007/12/tax-commission.html. Retrieved, January 18 2008.

  • Cameroon Tribune (2007a). Environnement et développement économique: Enjeux et perspectives. Online edition of March 15. Retrieved on January 18, 2008 from: http://www.cameroontribune.net/archresult.php?lang=Fr&oled=j31072007&crart=forestry&inf=20&&suiv=0&NbArtPage=5.

  • Cameroon Tribune (2007b). Minister calls for improvement in forest management Online edition of July 19. Retrieved on January 18, 2008 from: http://www.cameroontribune.net/archresult.php?lang=Fr&oled=j31072007&crart=forestry&inf=20&&suiv=0&NbArtPage=5.

  • Cameroon Tribune (2007c). Cameroon’s environment: State and stakes. Online edition of Jul, 19. Retrieved on January 18, 2008 from: http://www.cameroontribune.net/archresult.php?lang=Fr&oled=j31072007&crart=forestry&inf=20&&suiv=0&NbArtPage=5.

  • Chinweizu (1975). The west and the rest of us. New York: Random House.

  • Dahl, R. (1961). Who governs? New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahl, R., & Stinebrickner, B. (2003). Modern political analysis (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeGrassi, A. (2003). Environmental governance in Africa. Working papers: WP #13. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC.

  • Dumhoff, G. W. (2005). Theories of power: Alternative theoretical views. Unpublished paper available on-line at the following URL: http://www.sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/theory/alternative_theories.html.

  • Eba’a, A. R. (1997). Cameroon’s logging industry: Structure, economic importance and effects of devaluation. Yaounde: Centre of International Forestry Research (CFOR) in collaboration with The Topenbos Foundation (Cameroon Programme).

  • Ekoko, F. (2000). Balancing politics, economics and conservation: The case of the Cameroon forestry law reform. Development and Change, 31, 131–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ergas, Z. (Ed.) (1987). The African state in transition. London: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (1987). State of the world’s forest. Rome: FAO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairhead, J., & Leach, M. (2002). What’s the policy? Meanings, motives and the political economy of an emergent forest policy in Guinea, West Africa. Working paper from the project ‘Forest Science and Forest Policy: Knowledge, Institutions and Policy Processes’.

  • Fredricksson, P. (1997). The political economy of pollution taxes in a small open economy. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 33, 44–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, C. C. (1999). Politicians and poachers: The political economy of wildlife policy in Africa. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gwynne, R. N. (2004). Editor’s introduction: Political economy, resource use and Latin American environments. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 25(3), 247–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gwynne, R., & Silva, E. (1999). The political economy of sustainable development. In R. Gwynne, & C. Kay (Eds.), Latin America transformed, 1st ed. (pp 153–80). London: Arnold.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoagland, P., & Farrow, S. (1996). Planning versus reality: Political and scientific determinants of outer continental shelf lease sales. In R. Congleton (Ed.), The political economy of environmental protection (pp. 145–166). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurrell, A. (1991). The politics of amazonian deforestation. Journal of Latin American Studies, 23(1), 191–215.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurrell, A., & Kingsbury, B. (Eds.). (1992). The international politics of the environment: Actors, interests and institutions. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keohane, R. O., & Levy, M. A. (Eds.). (1996). Institutions for environmental aid: Pitfalls and promise. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindblom, C. E., & Woodhouse, E. J. (1993). The policy-making process (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, J. R. (1956). Democracy and participation. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mengang, J. M. (1998). Evolution of natural resource policy in Cameroon. Yale Forest & Environmental Science Bulletin, 102(Sangha River Region), 239–248.

    Google Scholar 

  • Midgley, J. (1986). Community participation, social development and the state. London/New York: Methuen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nasango, S. W., & Gabsa, W. N. (2000). Environmental policy and the politics of ecologism in Cameroon and Kenya. Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa, 2(2), 71–108 (On-Line).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ngwa, N. E., & Fonjong, L. N. (2002). Actors, options and the challenges of forest management in anglophone Cameroon. GeoJournal, 57, 95–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Njoh, A. J. (1998). The political economy of urban land reforms in a post-colonial state. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 22(3), 408–424.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Njoh, A. J. (1999). The state, urban development policy and society in Cameroon. Cities, 16(2), 111–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Njoh, A. J. (2003). Planning in contemporary Africa: The state, town planning and society in Cameroon. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oates, W. E., & Portney, P. R. (2001). The political economy of environmental policy. Discussion paper 01–55. Washington, DC: Resources for the Future.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oyono, P. R. (2005). Profiling local-level outcomes of environmental decentralizations: The case of Cameroon’s forests in the congo basin. The Journal of Environment & Development, 14(3), 317–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oyono, P. R., Kouna, C., & Mala, W. (2005). Benefits of forests in Cameroon. Global structure, issues involving access and decision-making hiccoughs. Forest Policy and Economics, 7, 357–368.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pennock, J. R. (1979). Democratic political theory. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Republic of Cameroon (1976). Fourth five-year economic, social and cultural development plan (1976–1981). Yaounde: Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning.

    Google Scholar 

  • Republic of Cameroon (1986). Vth five-year economic, social and cultural development plan, 1986–1991. Yaounde: Ministry of the Plan and Regional Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodney, W. (1981). How Europe underdeveloped Africa. Washington, DC: Howard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schumpeter, J. (1942). Capitalism, socialism and democracy. London: Allen & Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharpe, B. (1998). ‘First the forest’: Conservation, ‘community’ and ‘participation’ in South-West Cameroon. Africa, 68(1), 25–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sieböck, G. (2002). A political, legal and economic framework for sustainable forest management in Cameroon: Concerted initiatives to save rainforests, MS Thesis. Lund, Sweden: Lund University.

  • Silva, E. (2004). The political economy of forest policy in Mexico and Chile. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 23(3), 261–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steinberg, P. F. (2003). Understanding policy change in developing countries: The spheres of influence framework. Global Environmental Politics, 3(1), 11–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Bank (1990). The World Bank and the environment: First annual report. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank (1991). Forest sector policy paper. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Rainforest Movement (2004). Plantations campaign: The bitter fruit of oil palm. URL: www.wrm.org.uy. Retrieved on December 11, 2004 (On-Line).

  • WRI (World Resources Institute) (2001). The World Bank, conditionalities, and forest sector reform: The Cameroon experience. Brief prepared for the world resources institute and the biodiversity support program. World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Washington, DC. Web: www.BSPonline.org.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Government & International Affairs, University of South Florida, 140 7th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA

    Ambe J. Njoh

Authors
  1. Ambe J. Njoh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ambe J. Njoh.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Njoh, A.J. Politico-economic determinants of forestry policy in Cameroon. GeoJournal 70, 109–120 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-008-9118-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-008-9118-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation