Power, the Hidden Factor in Development Cooperation. An Example of Community Forestry in Cameroon

Mbolo C. Yufanyi Movuh, Carsten Schusser

Chair of Forest and Nature Conservation Policy, Georg August University Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany.

DOI: 10.4236/ojf.2012.24030                

Abstract

This paper is concomitant with our comparative study analysis of the interests and power of the stake-holders involved in Community Forestry (CF) in six countries. The study hypothesises that, “governance processes and outcomes in CF depend mostly on interests of the powerful external stakeholders”. For this paper which is on CF in Cameroon, the study hypothesizes that, “Power is a hidden factor in Development cooperation”. Based on political theories, the paper uses the “actor-centered power” (ACP) concept of the Community Forestry Working Group (CFWG) in G?ttingen, Germany, the post-development theory and empirical findings, to back up the assertations made in the study through the analysis of thirteen different CFs in the South West region (SWR) of Cameroon. It analyzes the empirically applicable ACP concept, that consists of three elements: trust, incentives and coercion and at the same time connects these elements with the post-development theory. The elements were derived from the basic assumptions on power made by Max Weber in political sciences and Max Krott in forest policy. The study confirms the existence of powerful internal and external stakeholders that influence CF in Cameroon and aims to empower important but marginalised communities. It concludes that, CF as a development instrument to alleviate poverty and increase livelihood while sustainably managing the forest has actually not brought significant or meaningful development to the targeted sector of the society

Keywords

Community Forestry; Devolution; Power; Development; Post-Development; Theory; Trust; Incentive; Coercion

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Agrawal, A., & Redford, K. H. (2006). Poverty, development, and biondiversity conservation: Shooting in the dark? Working paper No. 26. New York: Wildlife Conservation Society.
[2]	Ahorro, J. (2008). The waves of post-development theory and a consideration of the Philippines. Edmonton: University of Alberta.
[3]	Arts, B., & Van Tatenhove, J. (2004). Policy and power: A conceptual framework between the “old” and “new” policy idioms. Policy sciences, 37, 339-356. doi:10.1007/s11077-005-0156-9
[4]	Babbington, A. (2000). Re-encountering development: Livelihood transitions and place transformations in the Andes. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 90, 495-520. doi:10.1111/0004-5608.00206
[5]	Barry, D., Campbell, J. Y., Fahn, J., Mallee, H., & Pradhan, U. (2003). Achieving significant impact at scale: Reflections on the challenge for global community forestry. URL (last checked 19-23 May 2003). http://www.cifor.org/publications/corporate/cd-roms/bonn-proc/pdfs/papers/t7_final_barry.pdf
[6]	Berger, M. (1995). Post-cold war capitalism: Modernization and modes of resistance after the fall. Third World Quarterly, 16, 717728. doi:10.1080/01436599550035924
[7]	Bigombe′, P. (2003). The decentralized forestry taxation system in Cameroon. In J. Ribot, & D. Conyers (Eds.), Local management and state’s logic. Washington: World Resources Institute.
[8]	Blaike, P. (1998). Post-modernism and the calling out of development geography. Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers, Boston, 25-28 March 1998.
[9]	Brown, H. C. P., Wolf, S. A., & Lassoie, J. P. (2007). An analytic approach to structuring co-management of community forests in Cameroon, Progress in Development Studies, 7, 135-154. doi:10.1177/146499340600700204
[10]	Colfer, C. J. P. (2005). The equitable forest: Diversity, community and resource management. Washington: RFF Press.
[11]	Contreras, A. (2003). Creating space for local forest management—The case of the Philippines. In D. Edmunds, & E. Wollenberg (Eds.), Local forest management: The impacts of devolution policies (pp. 127-149). London: Earthscan.
[12]	Crew, E., & Harrison, E. (1998). Whose Development? An ethnography of aid. London: Zed Books.
[13]	Devkota, R. (2010). Interests and powers as drivers of community forestry: A case study of Nepal. G?ttingen: University Press G?ttingen.
[14]	Edmunds, D., & Wollenberg, E. (2001). Historical perspectives on forest policy change in Asia: An introduction, Environmental History, 6, 190-212. doi:10.1093/envhis/6.2.190
[15]	Egbe, E. S. (1998). The range of possibilities for community forestry permitted within the framework of current Cameroonian legislation. Yaoundé: Ministry of Environment and Forests.
[16]	Escobar, A. (1995). Encountering development. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
[17]	Escobar, A. (2000). Beyond the search for a paradigm? post-development and beyond, Development, 43, 11-14. doi:10.1057/palgrave.development.1110188
[18]	Etzioni, A. (1975). A comparative analysis of complex organizations: On power, involvement, and their correlates. New York: Free Press.
[19]	Ezzine de Blas, D., Ruiz Perez, M., Sayer, J. A., Lescuyer, G., Nasi, R., & Karsenty, A. (2009). External influences on and conditions for community logging management in Cameroon. World Development, 37, 445-456. doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2008.03.011
[20]	Ferguson, J. (1994). The anti-politics machine: “Development”, depoliticization, and bureaucratic power in Lesotho. The Ecologist, 24, 176-181.
[21]	Fisher, J., van Heerde, J., & Tucker, A. (2010). Does one trust judgement fit all? Linking theory and empirics. British Journal of Politics & International Relations, 12, 161-188. doi:10.1111/j.1467-856X.2009.00401.x
[22]	Foucault, M. (1983). The subject and power. In H. Dreyfus, & P. Rabinow (Eds.), Beyond structuralism and hermeneutics. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
[23]	Hobley, M. (2007). Forests—The poor man’s overcoat: Foresters as agents of change? Canberra: The Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University.
[24]	Kiely, R. (1999). The last refuge of the noble savage? A critical assessment of post-development theory. The European Journal of Development Research, 11, 30-55. doi:10.1080/09578819908426726
[25]	Kippler, C. (2010). Exploring post-development: Politics, the state and emancipation. The question of alternatives. URL(last checked 21 September 2011). http://www.polis.leeds.ac.uk/assets/files/students/student-journal/ug-summer-10/caroline-kippler-summer-10.pdf
[26]	Krott, M. (1990). ?ffentliche verwaltung im umweltschutz, ergebnisse einer beh?rden-orientierten policy-analyse am beispiel waldschutz. Wien: Braunmüller.
[27]	Krott, M. (2005). Forest policy analysis. Dordrecht: Springer.
[28]	Krott, M., Bader, A., Devkota, R., Schusser, C., Maryudi, A., & Aurenhammer, A. (in review). Identifying driving forces in land use issues by actor-centered power analysis—Example of community forestry. In review in Land Use Policy.
[29]	Larson, A. M. (2005). Democratic decentralization in the forestry sector: Lessons learned from Africa, Asia and Latin America. In C. J. Colfer, & D. Capistrano (Eds.), The Politics of decentralization—Forests, power and people (pp. 32-62). London: Earthscan.
[30]	Larson, A. M., & Ribot, J. C. (2004). Democratic decentralization through a natural resource lens. European Journal of Development Research, 16, 1-25.
[31]	Larson, A. M., & Ribot, J. C. (2007). The poverty of forestry policy: Double standards on an uneven playing field. Sustainability Science Journal, 2, 189-204.
[32]	La Vi?a, A. G. M. (1997). Seeing with clear eyes: The challenge of community-based resource management and the role of academe. In: C. Castro, F. B. Pulhin, & L. C. Reyes (Eds.), Community-based resource management: A paradigm shift in forestry. Los Ba?os: University of the Philippines Los Ba?os.
[33]	Little, P., & Painter, M. (1995). Discourse, politics, and the development process: Reflections on Escobar’s “anthropology and the development encounter”. American Ethnologist, 22, 602-616. doi:10.1525/ae.1995.22.3.02a00080
[34]	Mandondo, A. (2003). Snapshot views of international community forestry networks: Cameroon country study. Center for International Forestry Research.
[35]	Maryudi, A. (2011). The contesting aspirations in the forests: Actors, interests and power in community forestry in Java, Indonesia. G?ttingen: University Press G?ttingen.
[36]	Maryudi, A., Devkota, R., Schusser, C., Yufanyi Movuh, M., Salla, M., Aurenhammer, H., & Krott, M. (2012). Back to basics: Considerations in evaluating the outcomes of community forestry. Forest policy an Economics, 14, 1-5.
[37]	Matthews, S. (2004). Post-development theory and the question of alternatives: A view from Africa. Third World Quarterly, 25, 373384. doi:10.1080/0143659042000174860
[38]	Matthews, S. (2006). Responding to poverty in the light of the post-development debate: Some insights from the NGO Enda Graf Sahel. Africa development, 4, 52-72.
[39]	Mayers, J. (2005). Stakeholder power analysis. London: International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).
[40]	Mbile, P., Ndzomo-Abanda, G., Essoumba, H., & Misouma, A. (2009). Alternate tenure and enterprise models in Cameroon: Community forests in the context of community rights and forest landscapes. Washington: World Agro forestry Centre and Rights and Resources Initiative.
[41]	McDermott, M. H., & Schreckenberg, K. (2009). Equity in community forestry: Insights from north and south. International Forestry Review, 11, 157-170. doi:10.1505/ifor.11.2.157
[42]	Mengang J. M. (1998). Resource use in the tri-national Sangha river region of equatorial Africa: Histories, knowledge forms, and institutions. Bulletin, 102, 8-28.
[43]	MINEP (2004). Etat des lieux de la foresterie communautaire au Cameroun. Ministere de l’Environnement et des Forets, Direction des Forêts, Cellule de Foresterie Communautaire.
[44]	M?llering, G. (2005). The trust/control duality: An integrative perspective on positive expectations of others. International Sociology, 20, 283-305. doi:10.1177/0268580905055478
[45]	Murphree, M. (2004). Communal approaches to natural resource management in Africa: From whence and to where? Berkeley: Center for African Studies.
[46]	Offe, C. (1977). Einleitung. In: P. Bachrach, & M. Baratz (Eds.), Macht und Armut: Eine theoretisch-empirische Untersuchung (pp. 7-34). Frankfurt: Verlag.
[47]	Oyono, P. R. (2004a). Institutional deficit, representation, and decentralized forest management in Cameroon. Washington: Elements of natural resource sociology for social theory and public policy, Environmental Governance in Africa.
[48]	Oyono, P. R. (2004b). One step forward, two steps back? Paradoxes of natural resource management decentralization in Cameroon. Journal of Modern African Studies, 42, 91-111. doi:10.1017/S0022278X03004488
[49]	Oyono, P. R. (2005a). Profiling local-level outcomes of environmental decentralizations: The case of Cameroon’s forests in the Congo Basin. Journal of Environment and Development, 14, 317-337.
[50]	Oyono, P. R. (2005b). The foundations of the con?it de langage over land and forests in southern Cameroon. African Study Monographs, 26, 115-144.
[51]	Oyono, P. R. (2009). New niches of community rights to forests in Cameroon: Tenure reform, decentralization category or something else? International Journal of Social Forestry, 2, 1-23.
[52]	Oyono, P. R., Kouna, C., & Mala, W. (2005). Benefits of forests in Cameroon: Global structure, issues involving access, and decision-making hiccoughs. Forest Policy and Economics, 7, 357-368. doi:10.1016/S1389-9341(03)00072-8
[53]	Pieterse, J. N. (1998). My paradigm of yours? Alternative development, post-development, and reflexive development. Development and Change, 29, 343-373. doi:10.1111/1467-7660.00081
[54]	Poffenberger, M. (2006). People in the forest: Community forestry experiences from southeast Asia. International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, 5, 57-69.
[55]	Pulhin, J. M., & Dressler, W. H. (2009). People, power and timber: The politics of community—Based forest management. Journal of Environmental Management, 91, 206-214. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2009.08.007
[56]	Rahnema, M. (1997). Development and the People’s Immune System: The story of another variety of AIDS. In M. Rahnema, & V. Bawtree, (Eds.), The post-development reader (pp. 111-129). London: Zed Books.
[57]	Rahnema, M., & Bawtree, V. (Eds.) (1997). The post-development reader. London: Zed Books.
[58]	Rebugio, L. L. (1998). Paradigm shift: The key to sustainable forestry and environmental resources management. Asian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, 1, 13-24.
[59]	Rossi, D. (2004). Revisiting foucauldian approaches: Power dynamics in development projects. Journal of Development Studies, 40, 1-29. doi:10.1080/0022038042000233786
[60]	Sachs, W. (Eds.) (1992). The development dictionary. A Guide to Knowledge as Power. London: Zed Books.
[61]	Sadan, E. (1997). Empowerment and community planning: Theory and practice of people-focused social solutions. Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad.
[62]	Sarin, M., Singh, N., Sundar, N., & Bhogal, R. (2003). Devolution as a threat to democratic decision-making in forestry? Findings from three states in India. in D. Edmunds, & E. Wollenberg (Eds.), Local forest management: The impacts of devolution policies (pp. 55-126). London: Earthscan.
[63]	Schnell, R., Hill, P., & Esser, E. (2005). Methoden der empirischen Sozialforschung. München: Auflage.
[64]	Schusser, C. (2012). Who determines biodiversity? An analysis of actors’ power and interests in community forestry in Namibia. Forest Policy and Economics, 21 July 2012.
[65]	Schusser, C., Krott, M., Devkota, R., Maryudi, A., Salla, M., Yufanyi Movuh, M. C. (2012). Sequence design of quantitative and qualitative surveys for increasing efficiency in forest policy research. Allgemeine Forest und Jagdzeitung, 183, 75-83.
[66]	Shackleton, S., Campbell, B., Wollenberg, E., & Edmunds, D. (2002). Devolution and community-based natural resource management: Creating space for local people to participate and benefit? Natural Resource Perspectives, 76, 1-6.
[67]	Sikor, T. (2006). Analyzing community-based forestry: Local, political and agrarian perspectives. Forest Policy and Economics, 8, 339-349 doi:10.1016/j.forpol.2005.08.005
[68]	Simon, H. A. (1981). Entscheidungsverhalten in organisationen: Eine Untersuchung von Entscheidungsprozessen in Management und Verwaltung. Landsberg am Lech.
[69]	Sobze, J. M. (2003). Analysis of implication of forest policy reform on CF in Cameroon: Case study of Lomié. G?ttingen: Cuvillier Verlag.
[70]	Storey, A. (2000). Post-development theory: Romanticism and pontius pilate politics. Development, 43, 4.
[71]	Sunderlin, D. W. (2004). Community forestry and poverty alleviation in Cambodia, Lao-PDR, and Vietnam: An agenda for research. Jakarta: Center for International Forestry Research.
[72]	Thoms, C. A. (2006). Conservation success, livelihoods failure? Community forestry in Nepal. Policy Matters, 14, 169-179.
[73]	Weber, M. (1964). The theory of social and economic organization. New York: Oxford University Press.
[74]	World Bank (2004). Sustaining forests: A development strategy. Washington: The World Bank.
[75]	World Bank (2005). World development indicators 2005. Washington: World Bank.
[76]	World Resources Institute (2005). The wealth of the poor-managing ecosystems to fight poverty. Washington: United Nations Development Program, United Nations Environment Program, World Bank, World Resources Institute.
[77]	Yufanyi Movuh, M. C. (2007). Community-based biodiversity conservation management: Reaching the goal of biodiversity conservation and community development. Master’s Thesis, München: GRIN Publishing.
[78]	Yufanyi Movuh, M. C., & Krott, M. (2012). The colonial heritage and post-colonial influence, entanglements and implications of the concept of community forestry by the example of Cameroon. Forest Policy and Economics, 15, 70-77. doi:10.1016/j.forpol.2011.05.004