Bodendegradierung und Ernährungskrise bei den Ouldeme und Platha. Umwelt- und Ernährungsprobleme bei zwei Feldbauerngruppen in den Mandarabergen Nord- Kameruns: Eine Folge der Adaptation an Monetarisierung und Wandel traditioneller institutioneller Rahmenbedingungen

Abstract

The Ouldeme and the Platha are two traditional farming communities of northern Cameroon. During the A.'s field work between 1990 and 1991, both groups in this semi-arid zone faced an environmental crisis and food shortages which cannot be explained by neo-Malthusian theory. He offers explanations that are influenced by the new institutional economics and anthropology and focuses on the various changes during colonial and post-colonial times. These include the monetarisation of social relationships as well as changes in traditional institutions of land use, traditional management of the harvest, and restricted beer production. There are also changes in rules concerning land use. Neglecting to maintain terraced fields under rent for one year and terraced fields in mortgage because of insecure land tenure seems to be one of the major changes leading to soil erosion. The A. explains how different gender and age-specific individual strategies of adaptation to monetarisation, that give short-term pay-offs, lead to environmental degradation and food insecurity in the long run, and change traditional institutions that once helped people to use the resources in a more sustainable way.