A NEW INSTITUTIONAL ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF POIJCIES GOVERNING NON-TIMBER POREST PRODUCTS AND AGROFORES'I'RY DEVELOPMENT IN CAMERGON Divine Fotmdjem Tita ~ llllll ®. UNIVERSITEIT GENT FACULTY OF BIOSCIENCE ENGINEERING Promoters: Prof. dr. ir. Guido Van Huylenbroeck Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Belgium Prof. dr. ir. Patrick Van Damme Department of Plant Production, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Belgium Dr. ir. Zac Tchoundjeu Principal Scientist, World Agroforestry Centre, West and Central Africa Regional Programme, Yaounde, Camrooon. Dean: Prof. dr. ir. Guido Van Huylenbroeck Rector: Prof. dr. Paul Van Cauwenberge iii Divine Foundjem Tita A NEW INSTITUTIONAL ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF POLICIES GOVERNING NON-TIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS AND AGROFORESTRY DEVELOPMENT IN CAMEROON Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor (PhD) in Applied Biological Sciences iv Dutch translation of the title: Een Nieuwe Institutionele Economische Analyse van beleidsmaatregelen inzake Niet-Hout Bosproducten en Agroforestry Ontwikkeling in Kameroen Illustration of the cover above from left to right: Irvingia gabonensis, Gnetum spp, Cola spp, Ricinodendron heudelotii. Below left: An agroforestry system with plantain and Ricinodendron trees; Right: a wild forest, another source of NTFP. Correct citation: Foundjem-Tita D. (2013). A new institutional economic analysis of policies governing non-timber forest products and agroforestry development in Cameroon. Doctoral Thesis, Ghent University, Belgium. ISBN 978-90-5989-607-9 The author and the promoters give the authorisation to consult and to copy parts of this work for personal use only. Every other use is subject to the copy right law. Permission to reproduce any material contained in this work should be obtained from the author. v Examination commission Prof. dr. ir. Guido Van Huylenbroeck (promoter) Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Belgium Prof. dr. ir. Patrick Van Damme (promoter) Department of Crop Production, Laboratory of Tropical and Subtropical Agronomy and Ethnobotany, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Belgium dr. ir. Zac Tchoundjeu (promoter) World Agroforestry Centre, West and Central African Region, Yaounde, Cameroon Prof. dr. ir. Jo Dewulf (Chairman) Department of Sustainable Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Belgium Prof. dr. ir. Kris Verheyen (Secretary) Department of Forest and Water Management, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Belgium Prof. dr. B.J.M. Arts Forest and Nature Conservation Policy, Wageningen University, Netherlands Prof. dr. ir. Marijke D’Haese Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University Prof. dr. Koen Schoors Theme leader, Legal Economics and Empirical Legal Studies, Faculty of Economics, Ghent University Prof. dr. ir. Robert Dewulf Department of Forest and Water Management, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University vi Acknowledgements A direct translation of my family name Foundjem from my grandmother’s local language means “sweet dreams”. That is like you sleep and dream that you have been awarded a PhD only to get up in the morning to realise it was just a dream. I hope this is not a ‘Foundjem’ but actual materialisation of a childhood dream comes true. This dream would have been a ‘Foundjem’ were it not of the timely support I got from a number of persons that i would like to thank. Foremost, I am indebted to my promoters at Ghent University, Prof. dr. ir. Guido Van Huylenbroeck and Prof. dr. ir. Patrick Van Damme for having accepted to guide me through the whole research and writing process. Your critical comments on my draft articles and patience to read through several versions of my papers have played a great role in shaping my ideas and writing which has led to this final product. To my promoter at ICRAF, Dr. Zac Tchoundjeu, I would say: the promotership started as far back as 2003 when you recruited me to work with you as a young research assistant. You continuously advised me to go for a PhD and supported my application for an MSc at the end of which you provided funding to be able to carry out this research. There are no better words to express my gratitude than to use the simple ‘Thank you’. To my guidance team, I will begin with you Prof. dr. ir. Marijke D’Haese. Our story dates back to 2009 when you guided me in my MSc thesis. Then you continued to my PhD. It was always a pleasure to move into your office at will to break some of your moments of deep thinking to ask questions and brainstorm with you about New Institutional Economics concepts and how we can contextualise them in the setting of my PhD. I would not have imagined having someone other than you to bore at will, it is not because you forced me to call you Marijke instead of madam. It is simply because you were ready to help. To you dr. ir. Stijn Speelman, I have learned a lot from you and i appreciate your critical thoughts and comments. Thank you for introducing me to the techniques of choice experiment. To you dr. ir. Ann Degrande of ICRAF, it was a pleasure working with. Thank you also for your comments and constructive suggestions on my draft articles and also reminders to prepare and send reports to the donors of this work. I am particularly grateful to my mates in the laboratory of tropical agriculture and ethonobotany: I will begin with you my dear cousin Hannes. It was a pleasure working with you in the same project. To Wouter, Kaat, Hamid, Omar, Ahmed, Sidi, Jila, Daniella, Serge Ngendakumana to name but a few, your jokes and comments during coffee breaks helped to reduce academic pressure. I would also want to thank you Isabel Vandriessche for all the administrative support you gave me throughout my stay in Ghent. To my colleagues in the Department of Agricultural Economics, it was wonderful to meet, know and work with you. Your contributions during our unit presentations were helpful in shaping my thoughts. Particular thanks go to: Sam Desiree, Wytse Vellema, Lotte Staelens, Leander Raes. Special appreciations also go to Evy Mettepeningen. She was always there to give whatever assistance needed. Prof. dr. ir. Jeroen Buysse, your course on agricultural research methods and also econometrics were very helpful to me. To my colleagues at ICRAF past and present: it was a pleasure working with you. I cannot forget you Charlie Mbosso and Alain Tsobeng we form the “trio of 17 March 2003” and I am certain in the months to come you will be saying the same thing as we started this journey together. To the young ‘ingénieurs agronomes’: Serge Babe, Nathalie Kana and Maryben vii Kuo who assisted me in collecting the data for this study. Thank you very much. Without you this work would not have been possible. True, but also due to the efforts of Andrew Nebaso, the ICRAF pilot who drove us through the entire trip from the stony roads to Acha-Tughi in the Northwest region to the sticky muddy roads of Mboy in the East region of Cameroon in between which we “wopla” several times on the road. At one point we needed our enumerators to be paid or our flight tickets to be bought to either attend an international conference or travel to Belgium as required but we failed to understand we had to follow procedures which are the rules of the game. Luckily, the administrators and finance team of ICRAF were there to remind us of the institutions governing such transactions. Thank you Lylian, Crose, Cosmas and Edith for all the administrative assistance. Before I quit the ICRAF family I would like to thank some former colleagues with whom I worked closely. These are Charly Facheux, Honore Tabuna, Amos Gyau, Asaah Ebenezer. All four of them have been my bosses in the marketing department of ICRAF. Peter Mbile, I missed your insightful thoughts and arguments but the little time we had it was a pleasure discussing with you. Thank you Precilia for the map. I am grateful to a number of colleagues and partners from sister organisations with whom I brainstormed while conceiving and working on this project. I will start with yor Dr. Ousseynou Ndoye and Dr. Julius Tiegohong C. both from the FAO NTFP programme office Yaounde. I enjoyed the fruitful discussions we had. Elise Touko, Tasse Benoit and the head NTFP programme in the Ministry of Forestry and wildlife. You eased my understanding and practical application of the 1994 Forestry Law. Raoul Ngueko of SNV Yaounde we worked enormously on selecting the attributes and their levels used in Chapter eight. I can remember the countless meetings and telephone conversations we had on the attributes and attribute levels. I appreciate your time and suggestions. Thank you also Dr. Vabi Michael for some important reading materials you shared with me in the early stages of this work. They helped in shaping mu thoughts. To the producers and traders who accepted to take part in this survey. Thank you very much for the information. My deepest gratitude to you farmer organisation members for the information you gave us. As we agreed, your identities have to be anonymous. To my friends Julius Niba Fon, you advised me to drop physics and follow you to the agronomy school. I wouldn’t have reached this level were it not of the timely advice. To you Fangwa Emma and your wife Nadesh, thank you for keeping my family company in my absence. Godwill Nimino, Anneh Mundi and Dieudonné Almagi we socialised during and after working hours. It was necessary to relive the stress. To you, Buma Carine, Emma and Céline Termote, you are all wonderful ladies. I spent some of the stressful time during my stay in Ghent with you.