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Livelihood Survival Strategies in Declining Towns of Sub Saharan Africa: Evidence from Nkongsamba, Cameroon

Received: 30 July 2016     Accepted: 8 August 2016     Published: 18 September 2016
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Abstract

Sub Saharan Africa’s economic meltdown which could be traced from the 1980s had a toll on export agriculture which served as a springboard for some urban economies. Such an economic malaise was greeted by a loss of urban vitality leading to urban decline. Ever since this unwanted phenomenon crept into the urban scene, urban geographers have largely focused on analyzing the processes leading to urban decline with a view of suggesting ways of revitalizing the urban environment. However, an important aspect which seemed to have eluded urban geographical literature or better still remains insufficient, concerns scientific perspectives on the livelihood survival strategies employed by urban residents in the face of decline. This is particularly true for the historic town of Nkongsamba which was hitherto ranked among the leading towns in Cameroon. The town witnessed a significant decline in its vitality which is largely attributed to the decline in the crop (coffee) export sector. This has precipitated the introduction of alternative livelihood survival strategies by the urban residents. Using a systematic sampling of 120 respondents drawn from the diverse livelihood sectors, complemented by in-depth interviews, field observations and secondary data, we analyse the current livelihood survival strategies of the population and their future perspectives. Our analysis lead us to the conclusion that the numerous livelihood strategies adopted (a switch to activities such as commercial motorbike riding, street food vending, urban agriculture, sales at kiosks, among others) are still makeshift in nature and are largely constrained by livelihood assets. In this regard, there is a need for urban development stakeholders to undertake participatory urban development project design and implementation which will help the town regain its economic vibrancy, very much reminiscent of the crop export years.

Published in Urban and Regional Planning (Volume 1, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.urp.20160103.12
Page(s) 59-67
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2016. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Livelihood Strategies, Assets, Declining Towns, Sub Saharan Africa, Nkongsamba

References
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    Jude Ndzifon Kimengsi, Ndi Humphrey Ngala, Essame Ewoba Serge Alain. (2016). Livelihood Survival Strategies in Declining Towns of Sub Saharan Africa: Evidence from Nkongsamba, Cameroon. Urban and Regional Planning, 1(3), 59-67. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20160103.12

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    ACS Style

    Jude Ndzifon Kimengsi; Ndi Humphrey Ngala; Essame Ewoba Serge Alain. Livelihood Survival Strategies in Declining Towns of Sub Saharan Africa: Evidence from Nkongsamba, Cameroon. Urban Reg. Plan. 2016, 1(3), 59-67. doi: 10.11648/j.urp.20160103.12

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    AMA Style

    Jude Ndzifon Kimengsi, Ndi Humphrey Ngala, Essame Ewoba Serge Alain. Livelihood Survival Strategies in Declining Towns of Sub Saharan Africa: Evidence from Nkongsamba, Cameroon. Urban Reg Plan. 2016;1(3):59-67. doi: 10.11648/j.urp.20160103.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.urp.20160103.12,
      author = {Jude Ndzifon Kimengsi and Ndi Humphrey Ngala and Essame Ewoba Serge Alain},
      title = {Livelihood Survival Strategies in Declining Towns of Sub Saharan Africa: Evidence from Nkongsamba, Cameroon},
      journal = {Urban and Regional Planning},
      volume = {1},
      number = {3},
      pages = {59-67},
      doi = {10.11648/j.urp.20160103.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20160103.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.urp.20160103.12},
      abstract = {Sub Saharan Africa’s economic meltdown which could be traced from the 1980s had a toll on export agriculture which served as a springboard for some urban economies. Such an economic malaise was greeted by a loss of urban vitality leading to urban decline. Ever since this unwanted phenomenon crept into the urban scene, urban geographers have largely focused on analyzing the processes leading to urban decline with a view of suggesting ways of revitalizing the urban environment. However, an important aspect which seemed to have eluded urban geographical literature or better still remains insufficient, concerns scientific perspectives on the livelihood survival strategies employed by urban residents in the face of decline. This is particularly true for the historic town of Nkongsamba which was hitherto ranked among the leading towns in Cameroon. The town witnessed a significant decline in its vitality which is largely attributed to the decline in the crop (coffee) export sector. This has precipitated the introduction of alternative livelihood survival strategies by the urban residents. Using a systematic sampling of 120 respondents drawn from the diverse livelihood sectors, complemented by in-depth interviews, field observations and secondary data, we analyse the current livelihood survival strategies of the population and their future perspectives. Our analysis lead us to the conclusion that the numerous livelihood strategies adopted (a switch to activities such as commercial motorbike riding, street food vending, urban agriculture, sales at kiosks, among others) are still makeshift in nature and are largely constrained by livelihood assets. In this regard, there is a need for urban development stakeholders to undertake participatory urban development project design and implementation which will help the town regain its economic vibrancy, very much reminiscent of the crop export years.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Livelihood Survival Strategies in Declining Towns of Sub Saharan Africa: Evidence from Nkongsamba, Cameroon
    AU  - Jude Ndzifon Kimengsi
    AU  - Ndi Humphrey Ngala
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
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    AB  - Sub Saharan Africa’s economic meltdown which could be traced from the 1980s had a toll on export agriculture which served as a springboard for some urban economies. Such an economic malaise was greeted by a loss of urban vitality leading to urban decline. Ever since this unwanted phenomenon crept into the urban scene, urban geographers have largely focused on analyzing the processes leading to urban decline with a view of suggesting ways of revitalizing the urban environment. However, an important aspect which seemed to have eluded urban geographical literature or better still remains insufficient, concerns scientific perspectives on the livelihood survival strategies employed by urban residents in the face of decline. This is particularly true for the historic town of Nkongsamba which was hitherto ranked among the leading towns in Cameroon. The town witnessed a significant decline in its vitality which is largely attributed to the decline in the crop (coffee) export sector. This has precipitated the introduction of alternative livelihood survival strategies by the urban residents. Using a systematic sampling of 120 respondents drawn from the diverse livelihood sectors, complemented by in-depth interviews, field observations and secondary data, we analyse the current livelihood survival strategies of the population and their future perspectives. Our analysis lead us to the conclusion that the numerous livelihood strategies adopted (a switch to activities such as commercial motorbike riding, street food vending, urban agriculture, sales at kiosks, among others) are still makeshift in nature and are largely constrained by livelihood assets. In this regard, there is a need for urban development stakeholders to undertake participatory urban development project design and implementation which will help the town regain its economic vibrancy, very much reminiscent of the crop export years.
    VL  - 1
    IS  - 3
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Author Information
  • Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Catholic University of Cameroon, Bamenda, Cameroon

  • Department of Geography, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon

  • Department of Geography, University of Bamenda, Bamenda, Cameroon

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