Changements institutionnels, statégies d’approvisionnement et de gouvernance de l’eau sur les hautes terres de l’Ouest Cameroun : exemples des petites villes de Kumbo, Bafou et Bali Gillian Sanguv Ngefor To cite this version: Gillian Sanguv Ngefor. Changements institutionnels, statégies d’approvisionnement et de gouvernance de l’eau sur les hautes terres de l’Ouest Cameroun : exemples des petites villes de Kumbo, Bafou et Bali. Géographie. Université Toulouse le Mirail - Toulouse II, 2014. Français. NNT : 2014TOU20006. tel-01124258 HAL Id: tel-01124258 https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01124258 Submitted on 6 Mar 2015 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. 5)µ4& &OWVFEFMPCUFOUJPOEV %0$503"5%&-6/*7&34*5²%&506-064& %ÏMJWSÏQBS Université Toulouse 2 Le Mirail (UT2 Le Mirail) $PUVUFMMFJOUFSOBUJPOBMFBWFD 1SÏTFOUÏFFUTPVUFOVFQBS NGEFOR Gillian SANGUV -F mercredi 29 janvier 2014 5Jtre : INSTITUTIONAL CHANGES, WATER ACCESSIBILITY STRATEGIES AND GOVERNANCE IN THE CAMEROON WESTERN HIGHLANDS: THE CASE OF BALI, KUMBO AND BAFOU SMALL CITIES. École doctorale et discipline ou spécialité : ED TESC : Études rurales en géographie, environnement 6OJUÏEFSFDIFSDIF UMR-MA 104- DYNAMIQUES RURALES %JSFDUFVS T EFʾÒTF Catherine BARON,Professeur, Université de Toulouse 1 Réné Joly ASSAKO ASSAKO,Professeur, Université de Yaoundé 2 3BQQPSUFVST François BART, Professeur, Université de Bordeaux 3 Ben PAGE, Professeur, University College, London "VUSF T NFNCSF T EVKVSZ Bernard CHARLERY de la MASSELIERE, Professeur, Université de Toulouse 2 Alain BONNASSIEUX, Chercheur Associé Laboratoire DR, UTM TABLE OF CONTENT List of Boxes ................................................................................................................... viii List of Tables ...................................................................................................................... viii List of Plates ...................................................................................................................... ix List of Abbreviations and Acronyms ................................................................................. x List of Appendices ............................................................................................................ xi Acknowledgment ............................................................................................................. xii Dedication ....................................................................................................................... xiii Abstract ........................................................................................................................... xiv Résumé ............................................................................................................................. xv 0.1 Debates on access to water by international organizations ......................... 1 0.2 Context of Study .......................................................................................... 6 0.2.1 Problem statement, research questions and hypotheses ............................................ 6 0.2.2 Choice and justification of study sites ..................................................................... 14 0.2.3.1 Sub-Urban Zones or Small Towns? ................................................................. 20 0.2.3.2 Sub-Urban Zones or Small Towns and Water.................................................. 22 0.2.3.3 The Small Town’s Challenge in Water Provision ............................................ 22 0.3 Water Management Models for small towns ............................................. 23 0.3.1 Water Associations .................................................................................................. 23 0.3.2 Water Boards ........................................................................................................... 23 0.3.3 Municipal water departments .................................................................................. 24 0.3.4 Small-scale private water companies ...................................................................... 24 0.3.5 Delegated Management ........................................................................................... 24 0.3.5 Delegated Management ........................................................................................... 25 0.4 Physical Environment of the Western Highlands, Cameroon ................... 25 0.5 Socio economic aspects of the Western Highlands of Cameroon ............. 28 0.6 Methods and presentation of thesis ............................................................ 34 0.7 The Structure of the thesis ......................................................................... 38 PART I ..................................................................................................................................... 40 EVOLUTION OF THE POTABLE WATER SECTOR, ACTORS AND INSTITUTIONS IN CAMEROON ........................................................................................................................... 40 Introduction to part I ........................................................................................ 41 i CHAPTER 1 ............................................................................................................................. 43 WATER GOVERNANCE IN CAMEROON: FOOTPRINTS OF THE COLONIALISTS ... 43 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 43 1.1 Customary laws guiding water management: in the past and present ....... 44 1.2 The footprints of colonial water governance in Cameroon (Germany, Britain and France) .......................................................................................... 51 1.2.1 Slow but sure German development period: the first piped water systems in Cameroon ......................................................................................................................... 53 1.2.2 Centralization and dependency as a French legacy in Francophone Cameroon ..... 56 1.2.3 Community contributions to British government investment in water in Cameroon .......................................................................................................................................... 58 1.2.3.1 Community development and self reliance: A result of British propaganda and campaigns ......................................................................................................................... 62 1.2.3.2 Community development becomes the West Cameroon government’s propaganda (1960-1972) .................................................................................................. 67 1.3 An independent country in search of a basic pattern for co-governance: Models that differ between urban and rural areas ........................................... 70 1.3.1 Water management under Société Nationale des Eaux du Cameroun (SNEC) ...... 72 1.3.2 Understanding historical narratives in contemporary water politics ....................... 75 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 82 CHAPTER 2 ............................................................................................................................ 84 THE CHALLENGE OF INSTITUTIONAL FRAGMENTATION IN CAMEROON: WATER POLICIES THAT LACK IMPLEMENTATION .................................................. 84 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 84 2.1 The General Institutional Framework: Rules and Actors .......................... 85 2.1.1 Jurisdictional fragmentation in Water Governance in Cameroon ........................... 86 2.1.2 National water policy, a dilemma derived from the international scene: claims of the donors ......................................................................................................................... 88 2.2 Key Actors in the water sector: Overlapping of roles ............................... 92 2.2.1 Mutations in the Water Sector: From SNEC to CAMWATER .............................. 94 CAMWATER and CDE ................................................................................................... 95 2.2.2 The Council: Decentralization accompaniment structures wanting ........................ 97 ii Council post-project quasi absence .......................................................................... 99 2.2.3 Community water projects led by NGOs: analysis of their approaches ............... 101 2.3 Comparing approaches in community water supply projects in Cameroon: Achievers or deceivers? ................................................................................. 104 2.3.1 SCANWATER: from outside to inside control – a catastrophic failure ............... 104 2.3.2 CIACC: from top down to community-managed .................................................. 105 2.3.3 CARE International ..............................................................................................