Abstract
Understanding the environmental consequences and socio-economic importance of dams is vital in assessing the effects of the Bamendjin dam in the development of agrarian communities in the Upper Noun Valley (UNV) in Northwest Cameroon. The Bamendjin dam drainage basin and its floodplain are endowed with abundant water resources and rich biodiversity, however, poverty is still a dominant factor that accounts for unsustainable management of natural resources by the majority of rural inhabitants in the area. The dam was created in 1975 and has since then exacerbated the environmental conditions and human problems of the region due to lack of flood control during rainy seasons, lost hope of improved navigation system, unclean drinking water sources, population growth, rising unemployment, deteriorating environmental health issues, resettlement problems and land use conflicts, especially farmer-herder conflicts. Despite hopes created by increased production of irrigated swamp rice, introduced to be a major cash crop, socio-economic and ecological problems have significantly reduced its chances of sustainable livelihood and poverty alleviation. Our study addresses the socio-economic implications of the Bamendjin dam as a rural development project to support rice production and other agro-pastoral activities and also examines related rural livelihood problems such as displacement of local communities and transformation of the landscape ecology. Stakeholders need to put in place an institutional framework for decision-making and policy implementation in order to realize the desired benefits of the dam and reverse its adverse effects on the UNV and its environs.
Highlights
Dams are very important in socio-economic development and poverty alleviation worldwide through the generation of hydro-electric power, enhanced navigation systems, flood control, water storage, agro-pastoral production, fishing, tourism and conservation (Sukhan & Sleigh, 2000; Brown et al, 2008; McNally et al, 2009)
Our study addresses the socio-economic implications of the Bamendjin dam as a rural development project to support rice production and other agro-pastoral activities and examines related rural livelihood problems such as displacement of local communities and transformation of the landscape ecology
The Bamendjin dam immediately affected over 307,757 people, forcefully displacing about 8,582 inhabitants as it submerged 3,178 houses in the Upper Noun Valley (UNV)
Summary
Dams are very important in socio-economic development and poverty alleviation worldwide through the generation of hydro-electric power, enhanced navigation systems, flood control, water storage, agro-pastoral production, fishing, tourism and conservation (Sukhan & Sleigh, 2000; Brown et al, 2008; McNally et al, 2009). The World Commission on Dams (WCD) define large dams as being over 15 m high with a reservoir of about 3 million m.3. Cameroon has the second largest hydroelectricity potential in Africa after the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and hydropower provides about 95% of the energy for domestic and industrial production. Most of these industrial activities are limited in urban centers far from rural communities where the dams are constructed. These rural communities benefit very little from the dams, especially concerning electricity, population displacement, ecological changes and flooding of the rural landscape. Recently some villages have gained access to electricity, pipe-borne water and healthcare facilities, the www.ccsenet.org/jsd
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