Land Tenure Crisis and the Hidden Cost on the Cameroonian Food System

Photo by Steven Weeks on Unsplash

1 in 2 Cameroonians are food insecure, and one of the challenges causing food insecurity is the land tenure crisis. Unlike the other problems plaguing our local food system, such as climate change and economic downturns, land tenure issues are hardly receiving equal attention. Here is what we know so far.

Normative pluralism, which is the parallel co-existence of customary traditional land laws and formal statutory laws, has created a rift in land ownership, weakening regulatory enforcement and creating widespread legal ambiguity. Rural communities, for example, are the nation’s food baskets. Land grabbing issues, spreading urbanization and industrialization are critically affecting farmers in these areas. Unfortunately, as of now, land titles are still expensive and highly cumbersome to procure. This leaves many of these farmers with no legal safety nets, and their livelihoods severely vulnerable to crisis. On a deeper layer, women farmers are disproportionately affected. Many customary laws still don’t permit women to own land or to participate in local decisions.

These age-long issues are further compounded by ethnonationalist conflicts in the Anglophone regions, ethnogeographical crisis via terrorism in the nation’s borderlands, and farmer-herder tensions over localized boundary issues. The farmer-herder tensions, also known as the transboundary transhumance crisis, are of particular importance because of their multifaceted causes and consequences. Due to changing seasons, some parts of Cameroon, especially the northern regions, are experiencing more dry spells and droughts in recent years. Nomadic herders, who are key players in the nation’s supply of animal-based protein such as meat and milk, are forced to reroute from traditional paths to seek food for their animals. On the other hand, urbanization and industrialization are pushing rural farmers deeper into historical nomadic corridors and animal watering points.

Land tenure issues threaten our food system’s resilience. It will be impossible to feed the nation sustainably and profitably if these issues continue to persist. Land tenure challenges often disrupt planting and harvesting cycles, reducing food availability while driving up food prices and household food expenditure at the regional and national scale. It is also a burden on farmers, whose productivity and income are severely reduced.