Rangeland Ecology & Management

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CHALLENGES TOWARDS GOVERNANCE AND DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES IN EMPOWERING AND SECURING SUSTAINABLE USE OF RANGELAND RESOURCES AND MANAGEMENT IN CAMEROON
Author
M. Gidado, Elhaj Jaji
Ndzeidze, Stephen K.
Mbih, Richard A.
Sushuu, Bongadzem C.
Wirngo, Harry M.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2018
Body

In Cameroon, efforts towards governance and decision-making processes to ensure security of access to rangeland resources generally lack action to improve tenure, resource security and improvement of rangeland management. Rangelands occupy about 20 % of surface area in Cameroon; provide critical habitat to many animal and plant species; offer many vital goods and services to society and are home to pastoralists, agro-pastoralists, crop farmers, fishermen, and hunter-gatherers, who for centuries co-existed peacefully. Efforts to improve tenure and resource security, and rangeland management have involved and targeted different stakeholders and have employed different strategies to do so. In recent years this harmony is being threatened by changing land use patterns, poor land use planning and poor recognition of ownership rights. There have also been a number of valuable initiatives, processes, mechanisms and/or practices from which important lessons can be learnt to guide further developments. Despite efforts by state and non-state actors to improve pastoral tenure security little has been achieved because of poor coordination among actors and a complete absence of opportunities to document and or showcase these good initiatives. Generally, traditional pastoralist such as the Mbororo Fulani pastoralists are marginalized from development processes and most are uneducated having poor access to public services. However, cultural development associations have been working to improve the status and livelihoods of the natives. Capacity building of paralegals and community volunteers have been one of the cornerstones of these programs. Trainings have been supported in basic legal procedures, advocacy, and counselling, conflict resolution and human rights. This study, supported by the ILC Rangelands Initiative, sought to identify, review and analyze the different initiatives that are contributing/have contributed in making rangelands more secure.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Reno, NV