TITLE:
Indigenous Land Grabbing and Forests Right Defilement by Small Farm Holders in Nguti, Cameroon
AUTHORS:
Tende Renz Tichafogwe, Ndjounguep Juscar
KEYWORDS:
Land Grabbing, Small Farm Holders, Right Violation, Environmental Degradation, Nguti
JOURNAL NAME:
Current Urban Studies,
Vol.8 No.1,
March
31,
2020
ABSTRACT: Land grabbing from small farm holders of Nguti is
the major cause of environmental degradation and forest right violation. This
article posits how the rural communities of Nguti are experiencing a range of
political skirmishes resulting from large scale land acquisition which is
threatening local land-use practices and access to land. The paper divulges
that oil palm enterprises have encouraged the proliferation of small grab farm
holders. This has forced members to engage in illegal sale of large portions of
forest land leading to environmental degradation and distortion in their
livelihood activities. A three-component integration method of questionnaire
administration, GPS recordings and
interview/ field observation were used for data collection. The data was
analysed using the Microsoft excel spread sheet and the maps realized through
the QGIS software. Results from findings adhere to the fact that 61% of land
acquisition by the minor farm holders comes from local chiefs, 26% bought land
from the indigenes while 13% obtained it from elites and family. Land conflicts
occur between the small farm holders and the local community because they have
intruded in land without authorisation from the traditional council leading to
boundary conflicts. Some 10% of the small farm holders have acquired land
influentially as a violation of the indigenous land rights. The activity has
caused environmental squalor in the form of habitat loss as forests and plants
are at risk of extinction. There is water resource depletion as the streams
used by the villagers for portable water have completely withered.
Inappropriate water management, fertilizers and pesticides run-off from fields
to adjacent rivers and lakes and contaminate groundwater sources. This article
acclaims that there is a need to sensitise the communities, especially the
youths, on illicit land sales and incessant monitoring of the Nguti area
against environmental degradation.