Land Grabbing in Cameroon: Implications to the Economic and Socio-Cultural Rights of the Local Communities

2021, Land Grabbing in Cameroon: Implications to the Economic and Socio-Cultural Rights of the Local Communities

ABSTRACT Land, its appurtenant resources and rights thereto attached are high stake issues for the enjoyment of economic and socio-cultural rights (ESCR) in any given society. The objective of this article is to demonstrate that the Cameroonian land tenure system incentivizes land grabs and ensuing disputes, constituting impediments to the ESCR of local communities. The paper argues that “land grabs” and ensuing disputes which are incentivized by the Cameroonian land tenure system, directly affect the ESCR of local communities. Using the genealogical, doctrinal and the analytical methodological approaches in the treatment of primary and secondary data, the article assesses the Cameroonian land tenure system and associated land grabs and resulting disputes with a view to identifying the impediments to the ESCR of local communities. The paper ends with a set of recommendations on how the flawed Cameroonian land tenure system can be strengthened to avert land grabs and the ensuing disputes so as to enhance the ESCR of local communities.

KEY WORDS: Cameroonian, communities, disputes, economic, enjoyment, ensuing, grabs, impediments, implications, incentivize, land, local, rights, socio-cultural, system, tenure.