Exploitation agro-pastorale et conflits fonciers en milieu paysan :cas du massif montagneus des bamboutos (Ouest-Cameroun) de 1911 à 2006

Abstract

The history of communities in general and that of the rural segments of the population in particular, shows tremendously that humankind has always longed to acquire a piece of land to establish himself no matter when and where. Such a desire is motivated by shelter need to improve the living conditions. Therefore, rural societies who solely depend on farming on daily basis are the most vulnerable people, considering the fact that land issues are very delicate to handle since these have become a whole world of troubles and tensions. Among them are the hills of Bamboutos, which is a part of the mountainous lands in the western region, one of the upland zones of Cameroon ridge, these conflicts surrounding lands for agro pastoral activities, have become the cause of social rift and a prospective tool for national breakdown. It is on this ground that the present work was carried out so as to shed light on the following problem: in which way Bamboutos mountains, since the colonial era, can be associated to hotbed of land conflicts sometimes deadly, between the local communities and other actors involved in its exploitation? In order to achieve this goal, this thesis has been carried out following the standards required by historical field, using different types of sources from verbal evidences or oral to images, as well as written documents. In order to examine the issue at hand in the Bamboutos mountains regarding other regions, this work was elaborated using other sciences, and also, it highly relies on the basis of interdisciplinary approaches advocate by historical methodology. This research, which falls within the tricky field of peasant communities’ history, especially, that of rural area based on land issues, is a kind of scanning of the tense atmosphere surrounding land and their stakeholders since the colonial period. It is a plea and a contribution of historical sciences in an attempt to solve land disputes, in rural areas by considering some aspects of the past which the lawmakers seem to disregard in their approach. The results of this research work are thus likely to be exploited and executed as a material to manage the crutial problems of land conflicts. It could also be used to elaborate prospective solutions aiming to improve the rural land system in Cameroon in particular and in Africa in general. Key words: Farming exploitation, lands disputes, rural milieu, mountain