Economic crisis and forest cover change in Cameroon: the roles of migration, crop diversification, and gender division of labor
Sunderlin, W.D.; Pokam, J.
Economic Development and Cultural Change 50(3): 581-606
2002
ISSN/ISBN: 0013-0079 DOI: 10.1086/342358Document Number: 245440
This paper examines the role of agricultural smallholders in Cameroon's forest cover loss within the context of dramatic macroeconomic events (i.e., economic crisis and devaluation) in the 1980s and 1990s. Three hypotheses are tested: (1) rural to urban migration has slowed as a consequence of the economic crisis, and populations in villages have grown, with increased forest clearing as a consequence, but there has been no net return migration from urban to rural areas; (2) between the years prior to the crisis and the present, production of cocoa and coffee has stagnated and farmers have compensated by increasing production of food crops, especially plantain, which are usually produced in primary forests; and (3) the collapse of plantation prices has led to growing participation by men in the production of food crops, and the gender division of labour has weakened as a consequence of the urgent need to increase household income. Data were obtained through a survey of 4078 households in the Center and South provinces of Cameroon between September and November 1997. The results demonstrate that macroeconomic conditions can have an important role in determining the way that population, agriculture, and labour roles affect forest-clearing activities. In the pre-crisis era, macroeconomic conditions affected these variables in such a way as to alleviate pressure on forests; after the onset of the crisis, macroeconomic conditions affected these variables in such a way as to increase pressure on forests.