Economic Crisis and Forest Cover Change in Cameroon: The Roles of Migration, Crop Diversification, and Gender Division of Labor

Abstract

This article attempts to explain how changes in population dynamics and smallholder agriculture have led to increased deforestation in the period of the crisis in Cameroon. These foci are justified by the fact that population growth and shifting cultivation are generally viewed, respectively, as the main cause and agent of deforestation in Central Africa in general and in Cameroon in particular. Other factors contributing to deforestation and forest degradation in Cameroon are logging and the construction of transportation infrastructure.

Citation

Sunderlin, W.D.; Pokam, J. Economic Crisis and Forest Cover Change in Cameroon: The Roles of Migration, Crop Diversification, and Gender Division of Labor. Economic Development and Cultural Change (2002) 50 (3) 581-606. [DOI: 10.1086/342358]

Published 1 January 2002