From conflict of uses to the community lens: Thinking about agropastoral conflicts and their responses in eastern Cameroon (Adamawa and East regions)

Although “community conflicts” are a heated topic in Cameroon, not all of them are given equal attention. This article aims to analyze the forms and consequences of conflicts that remain understudied in the academic literature, namely those between farmers and herders in the Adamawa and East regions. Although these conflicts are not new, they have become more frequent and intense in recent years. By studying the range of factors that cause tensions between farmers and herders, I will show how conflicts over land and resource use are transformed into intercommunity issues, turning the conflicting parties into rival groups. The recurrence of these conflicts and their responses at various levels highlight the ongoing transformations in the Adamawa and East regions, as well as the reconfigurations and power issues at stake. By studying the strategies of national (representatives of the Mbororo community) and international stakeholders (NGOs), I will examine how these agropastoral tensions may be reconfigured and how they interact with an authoritarian context of a “stationary state.”