land rights of indigenous people in cameroon

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Land Rights of Indigenous People in Cameroon

Dr MANU Ibrahim, Senior LecturerHead of Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology

Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences, University of Dschang-Cameroon.

B.P. 222 Dschang, West Region-CameroonTel: (+237) 77225247, 96743041,33045388

E-mail: [email protected]

INTERNATIONAL LAND FORUM CONFERENCE, YAOUNDE, 7- 9 2012

mailto:[email protected]

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1.0 .Introduction

• In recent years, the demand for reproductive land has resurged as a result of the current global food and financial crises as well as increasing concerns about energy security.

• In many countries, carbon sequestration as a response to climate change has also contributed in a significant way to the pressure on land.

• This situation has rendered land an increasingly disputed and commoditized resource, thereby compromising poor rural people’s access to and control over land.



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1.0 .Introduction Although the problem of insecure and poor land

access is common to all rural poor communities, indigenous communities are suffering even more. Indigenous communities are victimized by non-inclusive land policies and governance practices.

Their culture, mode of life and extremely poor representation in state systems result to their political, economic and social marginalization.

The Mbororo pastoralists are not minority in numerical strength but in their representation in the civil service and administration.


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1.0 .Introduction

The question often asked is who are the indigenous people in Cameroon?

This is often a controversial question in Cameroon just as in many other African countries where almost all ethnic groups consider themselves as indigenous of the regions and localities they occupy.

The report on the indigenous peoples by the expert working group of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights provide a few important clues to identify indigenous peoples in Africa:


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1.0 .IntroductionTheir cultures and ways of life differ to that of the

dominant population;Their cultures face extinction;Survival of their specific lifestyles depends on the

recognition of their rights and access to their lands and traditional natural resources;

They suffer discrimination as they are considered less developed and less advanced than the dominant groups of the society;


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1.0 .IntroductionThey live in inaccessible and geographically

isolated areas and suffer different forms of political and social marginalization and

They are often dominated and exploited within political and economic settings that are commonly designed to reflect the interests and activities of national majority.


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1.0 .Introductiono The above stated characteristics of the indigenous

and tribal peoples are closely related to those stated in the ILO Convention No.169.

o According to this convention, there are two types of criteria used to identify indigenous and tribal peoples.

o The objective criteria, which are outlined in Article 1 (a) and (b), describe socio-economic, cultural and political characteristics that differ from those of the national community.


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1.0 .Introductiono This distinction at the level of lifestyle is

fundamental. The concept of prior occupation is also included among the objective criteria stated in Article 1 as regards indigenous peoples.

o However, the convention refers to indigenous and tribal people with the intention of covering a social situation rather than establishing a priority based on those whose ancestors were first to arrive a particular region.


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1.0 .Introductiono The convention does not make any distinction in its

treatment of indigenous or tribal peoples. o Based on these criteria the following were identified

as indigenous people: Pygmies,Mbororo’en and the Kirdi or montagnards of the Mandara mountains.


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1.0 .IntroductionCameroon does not recognize the status of these

people as indigenous in the sense that is understood by this term in international law, but classifies them as marginal peoples.

However, by conforming to the Operational Directive 4.20 of the World Bank, which relates to indigenous peoples, the government of Cameroon, despite its non-ratification of ILO Convention No.169, implicitly recognizes the status of Pygmies as indigenous.


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2.0 Indigenous peoples’ Land Rights in Cameroon

• 2.1 Conceptualizing the Land QuestionThe land question facing Africa has its origins in

geo-political, economic, social and demographic factors more recently compounded by emerging global and strategic imperatives.

These include different forms and modes of colonization experienced in various regions, the diversity and degree of persistence of indigenous cultural and normative systems and forms of economic organizations.


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2.0 Indigenous peoples’ Land Rights in Cameroon These factors have given rise to a variety of legal regimes

relating to land tenure, use, management and environmental governance.

In addition, contemporary processes of social organization and mobilization including those derived from class, gender, region, culture, ethnicity, nationality and generational cleavages now predominate in shaping access to, control and utilization of land, resulting in a complex basis of claims and conflicts over land resources.

These diverse contexts have led to variations in national approaches to land policies and land reforms. It is also the case that some commonalities and challenges have emerged leading to similar responses in the design of new land rights.


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2.0 Indigenous peoples’ Land Rights in Cameroon In Africa, a significant amount of arable land has been sold

or leased to international and local investors who are anticipating greater gains from land deals and land –related investment.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimate that over 20 million hectares of agricultural land were acquired in Africa by international investors between 2007 and 2010.

This strong global interest in Africa’s productive land as well as recent large-scale development initiatives such as creation of protected areas and national parks, large-scale logging, mining, dam construction and pipe line construction have increased the vulnerability of poor rural people.


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2.0 Indigenous peoples’ Land Rights in Cameroon This is because indigenous people of Africa are

mainly pastoralists and hunter-gatherers and the land they occupy and depend on for livelihoods is often seen as land belonging to nobody.

The land is therefore increasingly sold or lease to new investors and expropriated for other development purposes.

This continuous dispossession of their land further impoverishes these indigenous peoples and threatens their economic, social and cultural survival thereby alienating their right to economic, social and cultural development.


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• 2.2 The Geographical and Ecological ContextOne of the key aspects of Africa’s land question is

that in spite of extensive dependence on farming, not much of the continent’s land is arable or potentially arable.

Large parts of the continent are deserts or semi-arid and facing ecological damage. In many cases, unequal distribution of land has relegated a growing population of small farmers into marginal lands leading to increasing physiological pressure and land and resource degradation including deforestation.


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In many parts of the continent, heavy rains accompanied by severe flooding and intermittent droughts have also tended to accelerate soil exhaustion and land cover losses.

This situation was experienced during the 2012 rainy season in Northern parts of Cameroon Nigeria and Niger. The indigenous people are faced with numerous problems which are physical, social and economic.

The pygmies suffer more due to their habitats in the forest and the mbororo, and montagnards suffer from harsh climate and droughts on the mountains they occupy.


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• 2.2 The Geographical and Ecological ContextOne of the key aspects of Africa’s land question is

that in spite of extensive dependence on farming, not much of the continent’s land is arable or potentially arable.

Large parts of the continent are deserts or semi-arid and facing ecological damage. In many cases, unequal distribution of land has relegated a growing population of small farmers into marginal lands leading to increasing physiological pressure and land and resource degradation including deforestation.


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In many parts of the continent, heavy rains accompanied by severe flooding and intermittent droughts have also tended to accelerate soil exhaustion and land cover losses.

This situation was experienced during the 2012 rainy season in Northern parts of Cameroon Nigeria and Niger. The indigenous people are faced with numerous problems which are physical, social and economic.

The pygmies suffer more due to their habitats in the forest and the mbororo, and montagnards suffer from harsh climate and droughts on the mountains they occupy.


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• 2.3 The Political Context of land ownership• 2.3.1 Colonial origins of land question Historically Africa comprises five regions carved out into fifty-two

countries with diverse political histories of colonial rule. Majority of these countries were colonized by Britain through indirect rule and others by France through direct and assimilation strategies and Belgium, Portugal and Spain. German rule in Cameroon, Tanzania and Namibia was short-lived due to the advent of the World War I.

European settlers gained control over land through “agreements” conquests and appropriation. Direct control management of land and engagement in agriculture was prominent in Southern Africa(South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia) and in North Africa(Egypt ,Algeria and Libya), Kenya in East Africa, Ivory Coast in West Africa and DR Congo and Cameroon in Central Africa.


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2.0 Indigenous peoples’ Land Rights in Cameroon The consolidation of such control and subsequent regulation of

acquired lands was effected through the promulgation of a variety of European laws, and establishment of political , administrative and economic management systems, which were grafted onto a diverse range of indigenous economic and cultural practices leading to dualistic land tenure and land administration regimes.

In the recent years land grabbing in most parts of Cameroon became so intensive especially in the grass-fields of the West and North –West Regions with the creation of large scale farming and ranching.

In the early 1970s the creation of Dumbo Ranch in the North West Region by the government displaced over 120 families of the pastoralists and several villages of crop farmers. These grazers moved out of the area with over 10,000 cattle, some of which went into Nigeria.


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In Ndawara the creation of a ranch and later the Cameroon Tea Estate displaced so many families of both grazers and crop farmers from the lands they had occupied for years. In the West Region the land tenure system is very intensive where land is in the hands of few families or individuals.

The high population density makes land ownership problematic in the area leading to severe conflicts involving villages and communities.


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• 2.3 The Political Context of land ownership 2.3.2 The impact of political liberalization and land

ownershipLiberal political reforms and especially the demise of

military rule in most countries and the return to multiparty politics in Africa leading to changes in state society relationships have in turn created opportunities for new approaches to land policy development.

More specifically the overbearing role of the state as owner, regulator and user of land resources is being increasingly challenged as land rights communities, non-state regulatory and administrative structures, organs of civil society and other public sector groups demand involvement in land policy development.


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• 2.4 Land ownership and Conflict in Africa

Despite the efforts at liberalization of political space, the struggle for land and natural resources remains one of the key factors fuelling instability in Africa.

The indigenous and marginalized peoples are the greater victims since they are faced with confrontation from their dominant groups and from the government since they have no land rights.

The grazers are believed to have occupied state land which can be taken away from them for other development purposes. Because of this they hardly carryout any meaningful development in their areas no matter the length of time they spend in these areas.


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In Cameroon and elsewhere in Africa the failure to resolve historical claims arising from colonial expropriations compounded by unequal redistribution of land after independence remains a primary source of conflict.

In the Sahel countries of Mali, Niger, Mauritania and Somalia the marginalization of the majority poor without representation in the government had led to frequent conflicts with the resultant destruction of lives and properties.


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These conflicts lead to massive displacement of people making land ownership a serious concern. Some of these conflicts especially in mineral rich countries of Angola, DR Congo, Southern Sudan, Sierra Leone and Liberia, conflicts over land spurred by global commercial interests have been intense leading to mass displacement of people making land ownership especially for indigenous people very difficult.

These conflicts led to forced evictions and sometimes genocide by non-combatants mainly women and children as was the case in Rwanda and Burundi in the early 1990s.


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• 2.4 The Economic Context of Land • 2.5.1 Land in Agricultural Economy

The importance of land in development in Africa is underlined by the fact that approximately 60% of the population derives its livelihood and income mainly from farming, livestock production and related activities.

The contribution of agriculture to the GDP in most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa exceeds 25% and is high as 40% in countries such as Central Africa Republic, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea Bissau, Rwanda, Serra Leone, Tanzania and Togo. Livestock production is an important activity in the Sahellian countries and the Horn of Africa.

The indigenous people in these regions are more subjected to hardship when it comes to land ownership and exploitation.


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The Tuaregs are in constant struggle to own land for their livestock grazing and occupy the most remote areas. This is applicable to the Mbororo pastoralists in Cameroon who are constantly being forced out of the lands they had occupied for years by crop farmers and other development agents.

The Montagnards are not different in treatment of land ownership and the Pygmies of the Congo Basin especially in Cameroon who have little access to land they occupy.

All these people cannot carry out any effective development on the lands they occupy which they feel do not belong to them. T

he contribution of agriculture and livestock production to African economies could be considerably enhanced through radical restructuring of a number of constraints.


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The first is the relatively low levels of agricultural productivity in terms of land and labour in many countries which have led to overdependence on imports for food security.

The second is low levels of mechanization especially in terms of irrigation development resulting in sub-optimal use of the continent’s land resources.

The third is the persistence of colonial policies that discriminated against the vast majority of African farmers and which continue to inhibit the growth of the small farm sector in terms of investment and infrastructure.

Furthermore, macro-economic stabilization polices since the 1990s, externally –oriented trade liberalization, and deregulation of domestic markets, have restricted the scope and pace of improved land utilization among Africa’s predominantly small farmers, while large-scale commercial farming dominated by elites and foreign land owners is growing.


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The indigenous people are being more and more marginalized by being pushed out of the lands they previously occupied and use.

The declined in the prices of cash crops like coffee and cocoa or cotton had push most of the farmers to resort to food production. In the West and North-West Regions of Cameroon most of the lands formerly used for livestock production are being taken over by growing of food crops to feed the teeming population.

This has led to severe decline in the herd size making beef a scarce commodity in the country. The extensive grazing system formerly enjoyed by the Mbororo pastoralists is fast disappearing making life difficult for the indigenous communities depending solely on livestock for their livelihood.


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• 2.6 Social and Cultural context of land • 2.6.1 Land and SpiritualityTo the vast majority of societies in Africa land is

regarded not simply as an economic or environmental asset, but as a social and cultural resource.

Land remains an important factor in the construction of social identity, the organization of religious life and the production and reproduction of culture.


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The link across generations is ultimately defined by the complement of land resources which families, lineages and communities share and control. Indeed land is fully embodied in the very spirituality of society.

These are dimensions which land policy development must address if prescriptions for change are to be internalized.

The Mbororo pastoralists believe that land is a natural gift from the Creator and belongs to every living person for use and needs not be sold to anybody.

That is the reason why they bury their dead ones wherever they die as that is a call from God and should not be ignored.


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3.0 Land and gender relations

• 2.6 Social and Cultural context of land • 2.6.1 Land and Spirituality It must be conceded that despite the reverence which

surrounds land and land relations in Africa, the system of patriarchy which dominates social organization has tended to discriminate against women when it comes to ownership and control of land resources.

This has been re-enforced, first , by imported land law that has tended to cement the system patriarchy by conferring title and inheritance rights upon male family members on the theory that women , especially married women can only access land through their husbands or male children and second by “claw-back” clauses in many African countries’ constitutions and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights(ACHPR) permitting discrimination on matters of personal law which often operate against women’s rights to equal treatment before the law.

If law and policy are to redress gender imbalances in land holding and use, it is necessary to reconstruct and reconceptualize existing rules of property in land under both customary and statutory law in ways that strengthen women’s access and control of land while respecting family and other social norms.


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This has been re-enforced, first , by imported land law that has tended to cement the system patriarchy by conferring title and inheritance rights upon male family members on the theory that women , especially married women can only access land through their husbands or male children and second by “claw-back” clauses in many African countries’ constitutions and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights(ACHPR) permitting discrimination on matters of personal law which often operate against women’s rights to equal treatment before the law.


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If law and policy are to redress gender imbalances in land holding and use, it is necessary to reconstruct and reconceptualize existing rules of property in land under both customary and statutory law in ways that strengthen women’s access and control of land while respecting family and other social norms.


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• 2.6 Social and Cultural context of land • 2.6.1 Land and SpiritualityThis would be consistent with commitments made by

African states as evidenced in the AU’s 2003 Maputo protocol to the ACHPR on the rights of women in Africa and 2004 Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa both of which call for action to address gender inequalities including women’s unequal access to land.

This is important because women remain the principal users of land for agriculture in most African countries.


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Despite the handicap facing women those of the indigenous people are more serious because they face double marginalization-from the dominant groups and dominated in the society.

The Pygmies of the Cameroon forests feel discriminated by the Bantus groups who claim that these people belong to them as alleged by one Bantu leader.

• “The pygmies are under my responsibility. My parents adopted them and I don’t

understand why we should keep arguing with them over land that belongs to us.”


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4.0 Other forms of MarginalizationBeyond the frequently acknowledged inequalities due

to race, class and gender the marginalization of particular ethnic groups with respect to access to adequate land remains a perpetual source of conflict.

The marginalization of certain categories of indigenous people such as the San of Botswana, Herero of Namibia, Bakola, Bagyeli and Batwa of Cameroon and other Countries of Central African Region and the Ogiek of Kenya, has become contentious. Land policy reforms must address these concerns.


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4.0 Other forms of MarginalizationA combination of factors such as migration,

population growth, urbanization, the overall land available for agriculture is decreasing in many countries including Cameroon in the recent years lead to the conflict on land.

Thus for the indigenous people in Cameroon and elsewhere to own land policies on land have to be reviewed and reformulated.


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Conclusion These changes and the increasing perception of land

as a scarce resource have reshaped debates on global and national land policies and moved land to higher position in the international policy agenda.

While recognizing the significant progress made in land policy formulation at global, regional and national levels.

It is clear that the new policies do not yet translate into real benefits for poor and marginalized African communities and vulnerable groups (indigenous people, women and youth).


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Conclusion This is because in many African countries, these

new policies are either not properly implemented or implemented in ways that continue to hinder secure access to land for these communities and groups.

For African women and youth the situation is compounded by discriminatory customary rules.