Community-based water resource management in North-west Cameroon: the role of potable water supply in community development

AbstractThis paper examines the role of community-based water resource management in community development in Cameroon. Natural resources across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have been managed from centralized systems and this has resulted into massive marginalization and disenfranchisement of rural communities. However, there is now a shift in policy interventions towards adopting pro-community approaches in resource management. Although this paradigm is increasingly becoming common, key questions on how to propagate the participation of the most vulnerable members of a community and the impact on community development remain pertinent. Using both secondary and empirical data collected though tools inspired by the traditional of participatory research; it is argued in the paper that community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) has the potential to imbue the full participation of local people in any development issues and changes rural societies and communities in sub-Saharan African countries. Rural Ca...