Continuity and Change in Cameroonian Land Policy

This article discusses the evolution of modern land policy in Cameroon. Emphasis is placed on the land reform efforts of the country’s different colonial and post-colonial governments, especially the nature and rationale for these efforts. It is argued that while there might have been some changes in the tactics employed by the different governments, the rationale has always been the same, namely to bestow the state with as much control as possible over land. Such control is necessary to facilitate attainment of the state’s ideological, economic and political objectives. Continuity in the land reform policies is thus explained by the fact that these objectives have remained unchanged since the colonial era.