Attainment of MDGs through tourism in the Central African sub-region: Implications for local economic development in Cameroon

              © PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural. ISSN 1695-7121
Vol. 10 Nº 2. Special Issue. Pp. 3-16. 2012
www.pasosonline.org
Attainment of MDGs through tourism in the Central African
sub-region: Implications for local economic development in
Cameroon
Albert N. Kimbu i
University of Surrey (United Kingdom)
i School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of Surrey, a.kimbu@surrey.ac.uk.
Abstract: This paper examines the role and contribution of tourism to local economic development
and in the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals one and seven dealing with extreme
poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability in the biodiversity endowed Central African
sub-region. The concepts of sustainable tourism development and local economic development (in
sub-Saharan Africa) are examined. Through fi eld observations and semi-structured interviews with
21 tourism industry stakeholders in Cameroon, an analysis of tourism’s role and future in LED and
in the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals 1 & 7 is undertaken. The core challenges
presently inhibiting tourism’s development thereby limiting its contribution to local economic deve-lopment
and the attainment of these goals in Cameroon are identifi ed and a framework within which
tourism’s contribution can be increased is proposed.
Keywords: Cameroon, Central Africa; Local economic development; Poverty alleviation; Environ-men-
tal conservation, Sustainable tourism.
Título: Logro de los ODM a través del turismo en la sub-región de Africa Central: Implicaciones para
el desarrollo economic local de Camerún
Resumen: Este artículo examina el papel y la contribución del turismo al desarrollo económico local
y en persecución de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio uno y siete referentes a la mitigación de
la probreza extrama y la sostenibilidad ambiental en la biodiversa región de Africa Central. Los con-ceptos
de desarrollo sostenible del turismo y desarrollo económico local (en le África subsahariana)
son exami-nados. A través de observaciones de campo y entrevistas semi-estructuradas con 21 partes
interesadas de la industria turística de Camerún, se lleva a cabo un análisis del papel y del futuro del
turismo en el desarrollo económico local y del logro de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio 1 y 7.
Los actuales desafíos que inhiben el desarrollo turístico limitando su contribución al desarrollo eco-nómico
y local son identifi cados y un marco dentro del cual el turismo puede contribuir es propuesto.
Palabras clave: Camerún; África Central; Desarrollo económico local; Alivio de la pobreza; Conser-va-
ción del medio ambiente; Turismo sostenible.
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Attainment of MDGs through tourism ...
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Introduction
The sustainable development and use of tour-ism
and environmental resources to promote local
economic development (LED) and help in the eradi-cation
of extreme poverty and hunger, especially in
developing countries, was one of the tools proposed
by the UNEP in September 2000 when the Mil-lennium
Development Goals (MDG) were adopted
in New York (UNDP, 2011). Two thirds of the way
through, some developing countries in sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA) such as Botswana, Gabon, Mauritius,
the Seychelles have realised the importance of tour-ism
as an important tool for local economic devel-opment
and the attainment of some of the MDGs
(especially goals 1 and 7), and successfully invested
in its development (Botswana Tourist Board, 2007,
Gabontour, 2010). Others, especially those in the
Central African sub-region, despite recognising its
importance have not given it the necessary atten-tion
it deserves. As a result, tourism’s impact as a
motor for local economic development still has to be
felt. However, substantial efforts have theoretically
been made by many governments of the sub-region,
especially in Cameroon and Gabon, to increase the
levels of environmental protection. Thus, the attain-ment
of the above mentioned goals through tourism
is rather mitigated. While discussing some of the
theories of sustainable tourism development in re-lation
to local economic development in SSA, this
paper examines the issues that have contributed
in making the achievement of the MDGs of poverty
eradication/alleviation and environmental sustain-ability
through tourism still a distant reality in
Cameroon.
Research aim
Cameroon has been an island of relative peace
and tranquillity in a region where political instabil-ity
seems to be the order of the day (BBC, 2010).
This, coupled with its triple colonial heritage (Ger-man,
French and English), natural and cultural bio-diversity,
are key ingredients which if well utilised
give it an added advantage of developing a success-ful
tourism industry which could go a long way to
attaining the MDGs of poverty alleviation and en-vironmental
conservation and sustainability there-by
promoting LED. However, since the adoption of
these goals, the use of tourism to achieve objectives
1 and 8 has been mitigated in Cameroon.
The main aim of this paper is to fi nd out if and
how successful tourism has been, and how it is con-tributing
to attaining these goals and therefore
LED with just 5 years to go, in spite of the country’s
abundant natural and cultural potentials and prom-ises
of development and investment by the govern-ment
in the sector. In the process, it highlights some
of the main obstacles that stand in the way and pro-poses
a framework within which the issues could be
resolved, making tourism an important contributor
to LED.
Sustainable tourism development, local economic
development and the Millennium Development
Goals
The concept of “sustainable tourism develop-ment”
has its root in the broader concept of “sus-tainable
development”, which can be traced back to
the World Commission on Environment and Devel-opment
Report, named “Our Common Future” (also
known as the Brundtland Report) (WCED, 1987).
Sustainable development according to the Brundt-land
Report is defi ned as “development that meets
the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of the future generation to meet their own
needs” (World Council for Economic Development
[WCED], 1987: 43). The core values of this report,
which has been criticized for providing limited prac-tical
guidance on how to put its ideas into operation,
where poverty alleviation, the achievement of long-term
equity and ecological well-being of humanity
(WCED, 1987). Other international conferences/
charters espoused and expanded these concepts and
attempted to provide frameworks for the implemen-tation
of sustainable development principles. Exam-ples
include the 1992 United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development (also known as the
Rio Earth Summit) which came up with the Agenda
21, the UN Millennium Declaration (2000) which
gave birth to the Millennium Development Goals
(Miller & Twining-Ward, 2005). The importance of
tourism to sustainable development has been ad-dressed
by the United Nations (UN) and its agen-cies
on numerous occasions. In 1995, a United Na-tions
Charter for Responsible Tourism was adopted
in Lanzarote, while the UN General Assembly dur-ing
its 1997 special session to review the implemen-tation
of Agenda 21 noted the importance of tourism
and requested the development of an action plan
specifi c to tourism development. This was followed
by the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Devel-opment
in Johannesburg (South Africa), where the
importance of tourism to sustainable development
Albert N. Kimbu
ISSN 1695-7121
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PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural, 10(2). Special Issue. 2012
was further stressed, culminating with the Bali
Declaration on Sustainable Tourism Development
(2005) which further emphasised the need to facili-tate,
promote and encourage tourism development
and management in a responsible manner (WTO,
2002; unescap.org, 2005).
However, before all these declarations and calls
for action, tourism in the 1950s and 1960s was
viewed as a ‘smokeless industry’ because its nega-tive
impacts were thought to be benign while its
economic, socio-cultural and environmental contri-butions
to LED and wellbeing of host communities
(most of which were located in developing countries)
were considered as overwhelming. In the early
1970s however, negative environmental, economic
and socio-cultural impacts started appearing espe-cially
with the growth of the mass tourism phenom-enon
(Hall & Page, 2006). Tourism researchers and
planners from then on began proposing alternative
methods of developing the industry. Consequently,
in the early 1980s and 1990s, terms such as respon-sible,
ethical, pro-poor, culture/heritage, alternative
as well as sustainable tourism were used to defi ne
this new form of tourism (Frey & George, 2010).
Sustainable tourism has however become the most
widely used of all these terms. That notwithstand-ing,
there is still a lot of controversy surrounding
its defi nition and how it can be successfully imple-mented
(Butler, 1991; Hunter, 1995; Miller & Twin-ing-
Ward, 2005). This controversy is because some
arguments have been advanced that sustainable
tourism should be concerned in creating conducive
environments and situations where tourism fl our-ishes
as an end in itself like an economic activity, i.e.
environmentally sustainable tourism (Muller, 1994;
Cater & Goodall, 1992). Other researchers however
maintain that sustainable tourism theories, prac-tices
and policies should be directed at fi nding a role
for tourism in which it becomes part of a more holis-tic
concept covering the general framework/concepts
of sustainable development from which the whole
concept itself evolved in the early 1990s (Hunter;
1997; Hunter, 1995; Collins, 1999; Butler, 1996).
Butler (1999) points out that the contention
mainly comes from the use of the word “sustainable”
and its interpretation as well as application to a va-riety
of activities within the tourism context espe-cially
in terms of scale, scope, sectoral context, time-scale
and (extra) parochiality. Consequently, though
many defi nitions of sustainable tourism have been
advanced, Butler’s (1993) defi nition stands out as
one of the main defi nitions which clearly posits sus-tainable
tourism as a tool that enhances sustain-able
development and consequently local economic
development. To him, sustainable tourism is:
“…tourism which is developed and maintained
in an area in such a manner and at such a scale
that it remains viable over an indefi nite period
and does not degrade or alter the environment
(human and physical) in which it exists to such
a degree that it prohibits the successful develop-ment
and well-being of other activities and pro-cesses”
(Butler, 1993: 29).
Sustainable tourism is seen here as a tool that
contributes to the improvement of the quality of
life of the hosts, while at the same time meeting
demands of the tourism industry and the tourists
themselves as well as protecting natural resources
and the environment. This perspective is in line
with the World Tourism Organization’s 1998 defi ni-tion
of sustainable tourism development which is
frequently used by tourism planners and in tourism
research literature. It states that:
“Sustainable tourism development meets the
needs of the present tourists and host regions
while protecting and enhancing opportunities for
the future. It is envisaged as leading to manage-ment
of all resources in such a way that economic,
social, and aesthetic needs can be fulfi lled while
maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecology
processes, biological diversity, and life support
systems” (WTO, 1998: 21).
Both defi nitions clearly points out that in or-der
for the sustainable development of tourism to
be successful, sound management of environmen-tal,
social and cultural resources which guarantee
the satisfaction to all stakeholders and ensure the
protection and conservation of these resources for
the present and future generations is imperative. If
this is effectively done, it will be possible to attain
MDG7 (environmental sustainability). In addition,
tourism’s localization (local culture and/or nature)
and the need for active and profi table community
engagement as well as proper management and in-tegration
of tourism into other economic activities of
the community/region is emphasized (Hunter, 1997;
McCool & Moisey, 2001). It is only through these ac-tions
that tourism could become an important con-tributor
to local economic development and in so do-ing
attaining MDG1 (extreme poverty eradication).
The main purpose of local economic development
is to “build up the economic capacity of a local area
to improve its economic future and the quality of life
for all” (World Bank, undated). In LED (which is
not geographically scale-bound), active stakehold-
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Attainment of MDGs through tourism ...
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er participation (which is also a key characteristic
of STD) is imperative. The consultation, inclusion
and participation of all stakeholders/partners in
all stages from planning through decision making,
implementation and management offers local gov-ernment,
the private, business, non-governmental
and non-profi t sectors, and local communities/areas
the opportunity to work together to improve the
local economy thereby enhancing their economic
and destination competitiveness and sustainability
(Helmsing, 2005; World Bank, 2003). LED is thus
primarily concerned with the ability of communities
to devise ways and means of continually improving
their investment climate and providing enabling
business environments, thereby enhancing their
competitiveness and ability to retain jobs, create
employment opportunities and improve incomes
and therefore economic growth. One of the means
of enhancing this competiveness and maintaining
economic growth is through the sustainable devel-opment
of tourism in regions which are blessed with
natural and cultural attractions. Broadly speak-ing,
LED strategy has gone through three different
phases or waves of development since the 1960s.
These are the traditional approach (1960s to early
1980s), the capacity building strategy (mid 1980s to
1990s) and the development of the information fl ows
phase (from the 1990s to the present) (World Bank,
undated). A good number of effi cient and effective
initiatives are necessary or need to be adopted in
order for the local communities to be able to meet
and respond to the demands of LED programmes
which have no single implementation model or ap-proach.
These include physical planning, economics
and marketing, in addition to incorporating many
local government and private sector functions such
as environmental planning, business development,
infrastructure provision, real estate development,
fi nance, good governance and accountability, eq-uitable
and active stakeholder participation and
ownership (Rodriguez-Pose & Tijmstra, 2007); ini-tiatives
which as earlier discussed are also a prereq-uisite
for the sustainable development of tourism in
any destination. LED thus entails the creation or
setting up of conditions that promote the stimula-tion
of new opportunities in both rural and urban
regions with limited opportunities for economic
growth. Tourism is one of those opportunities which
can be developed in some regions of Cameroon that
are endowed with cultural and natural attractions.
If successfully executed and implemented, LED
could lead to extreme poverty alleviation and en-vironmental
sustainability among others. However
LED in SSA has been plagued by a number of issues
and has undergone a series of transformations dur-ing
the last four decades.
Local economic development in sub-Saharan Africa
There are a good number of poverty alleviation
strategies in sub-Saharan Africa all linked to LED.
Self-reliance, survival and poverty alleviation rath-er
than fi nding and creating niche markets, local
economy strengthening and increasing competitive-ness
are some of the key focal points of the majority
of LED projects in the region (Binns & Nel, 1999).
The social aspects often take precedence over the
economic aspects with all strategies being drawn
up by local governments often without consultation
of the local business communities and other stake-holders.
As a result, most of these strategies do not
generate the expected results in terms of economic
growth and job creation (Rodriguez-Pose & Tijm-stra,
2007; Hinderson, 2003). During the last two
decades however, changes in the political economy
of many countries have signifi cantly altered condi-tions
for LED in sub-Saharan Africa. Decentrali-sation,
democratic pluralism and economic liber-alisation
as well as advances in information and
communication technologies (ICT) and managerial
changes have signifi cantly brought the world clos-er
(Rogerson & Rogerson, 2010; Helmsing, 2003;
Helmsing, 2005). Decentralisation has led many
communities to actually assume responsibility for
their own development. In many countries, this has
led to the creation of partnerships between the local
communities and other stakeholders (both national
and international) to ensure better management of
the community’s natural, physical and human re-sources
thereby stimulating the economy and cre-ating
jobs within these communities (Rogerson &
Rogerson, 2010; Helmsing, 2001; Helmsing, 2005).
Helmsing (2003) distinguishes three categories of
LED initiatives in SSA and these all have a direct
bearing on the sustainable development of tourism
in the region.
The fi rst are community economic development
initiatives which can be applied to both rural and
urban settings with slight alterations. These initia-tives
seek to stimulate and diversify the economic
activities of the households by introducing new in-come
generating activities (some of which are re-lated
to the tourism industry), promote a sense of
community, self-help and empowerment, contrib-
Albert N. Kimbu
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PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural, 10(2). Special Issue. 2012
to be participatory, simplifi ed and understandable.
In addition, control and monitoring mechanisms
and regulations have to be instituted during the
physical planning, development and management
phases. Infrastructure also has to be developed or
upgraded and monitoring mechanisms put in place
to ensure regular control, while the necessary so-cio-
economic overhead capital (education, research
and training institutions, hospitals, information
and communication technologies) has to be created
to serve not only the industry but the locality as a
whole (Rodriguez-Pose & Tijmstra, 2007; Helmsing,
2003; Helmsing, 2001). The provision of basic hard
and soft infrastructure by the government and their
astute management generally serves as a stimulus
for private investments in the targeted locality. This
makes the destination more competitive and attrac-tive
to potential investors and also enhances the life
quality of the local residents who also profi t from
these infrastructure and services. The problem in
many sub-Saharan African countries and Cameroon
in particular is that, though a good number of po-tential
sites (export bases) for tourism development
have been identifi ed by the governments, only very
limited physical infrastructure has been construct-ed
making these sites less attractive to potential in-vestors
and tourists (Kimbu, 2011). In addition, the
necessary socio-economic overhead capital is almost
inexistent.
Cameroon overview
Located between West and Central Africa in the
Gulf of Guinea, with English and French as the of-fi
cial languages and just 6.5 hours away from con-tinental
Europe, Cameroon, which received 572,728
visitors in 2010, has been described as “all of Africa
in one country” due to its topographical, fl oral, fau-nal
and multicultural diversity (MINTOUR, 2007).
Cameroon has a total surface area of 475 442 km²
and had a population of about 19.5 million inhabit-ants
in 2009 (BBC, 2010). The country’s strategic
location has given rise to a vast fl oral and faunal di-versity
and density. In fact, Cameroon has one of the
highest concentrations of endemic species on the Af-rican
continent apart from the island of Madagascar
and was in this regard classifi ed by the World Bank
and the World Wide Fund (WWF) as one of the 13
countries worldwide with the highest amount of bio-logical
diversity (Riley & Riley, 2005; Vivien, 1991).
As of 2005, 14% of Cameroonian territory was
under some form of protection on paper and there
ute to the generation of self-employment, improve
living and working conditions in the communities
and create public and community services, thereby
reducing their overdependence and dependence on
one activity alone (Helmsing, 2003). If successfully
applied, they could lead to improvement of liveli-hoods
as well as a reduction in poverty and vulner-ability.
This is very important in Africa where rapid
population growth, less dependence on agriculture,
mismanagement and urban migration has not only
made many households to become vulnerable but it
has increased pressure on some communities and
localities and led to an increase in urban poverty
(Helmsing & Egziabher, 2005).
The second LED initiative involves engaging in
activities dealing with the production of products
that are appealing and developing the conditions
that favour the export of these products and ser-vices
outside the locality. This export base is often
made up of different sectors and they each depend
on each other for survival. The more they special-ise
in their different sectors, the more performant
they become and the better services they are able to
render, hence becoming more appealing (Helmsing,
2003; Helmsing & Egziabher, 2005). Just like with
all other industries, the tourism industry’s growth
and appeal does not only depend on the natural and
cultural environments, but it also largely depends
on the supply and provision of the necessary service
infrastructure such as transport, accommodation
and food, security, health care and human resources
by other industrial sectors to the industry (Kimbu,
2010). However as McCormick (1999) observed,
manufacturing clusters in Africa are under-devel-oped
when compared to other continents. This is pri-marily
due to the absence of enabling environment
(i.e. macro and micro fi nance, competency/capacity
learning platforms, collaborative partnerships and
networks) and is a serious obstacle to enterprise
development. Helmsing (2005) and Helmsing and
Egziabher (2005) note that achieving collabora-tion
and cooperation among the various sectors and
stakeholders is a serious problem in many African
communities.
The third initiative deals with the development
of specialised export bases by local economies. This
is refl ected in correct planning and realisation of
the necessary hard and soft infrastructure and the
provision of the necessary social and economic over-head
capital that is put in place to serve it (Helm-sing,
2003). In order for locality development to be
successful, the planning and operationalization has
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Attainment of MDGs through tourism ...
ISSN 1695-7121
were plans to increase this amount to 19% (especial-ly
after the World Bank’s approval to fi nance Cam-eroon’s
Forest and Environmental Policy Develop-ment
Program Project in 2006 thereby theoretically
complying with the Millennium Development Goal
of increased environmental conservation and pov-erty
alleviation (World Bank, 2006)). In 2007, Cam-eroon
had 13 national parks, 3 of which were UN-ESCO-
MAB biosphere reserves and one a UNESCO
World Heritage Site; 18 wildlife reserves, 3 wildlife
sanctuaries, 16 forest reserves and protected areas,
9 cloud (mountain) forest sites in the country cover-ing
a total surface area of about 6496499 hectares
(UNESCO, 2008; MINTOUR, 2007). This is in addi-tion
to the 402 km of coastline with pristine beaches
near the foot of Mount Cameroon in Limbe (South
West Region), at the entrance of the equatorial for-est
around Kribi and Campo (South Region) and on
the island of Manoka in the Littoral Region (MIN-TOUR,
2007). In addition, the country is blessed
with a diversity and multiplicity of customs and
traditions manifested in the more than 270 spoken
languages, architecture, dressing, music, song and
dancing especially in the western and northern re-gions
of Cameroon (Benneh, 2008; Paden & Soya,
1970).
The eastern, western and southern portions of
Cameroon (North West, South West, Littoral, Cen-tre,
South and East Regions) are potential havens
for ecotourism, mountaineering and hiking, cultural
and beach tourism development, while the northern
part of Cameroon (Adamaoua, North and Extreme
North Regions) is the Mecca for safari adventurers
and is the most visited part of the country (Kimbu,
2010). With its rich and abundant cultural and nat-ural
diversity, different forms of cultural and envi-ronmentally
sustainable community benefi t nature-related
tourism, mountaineering and hiking, cul-tural
and sun and sea tourism initiatives geared at
promoting LED are starting to see the light around
some of these parks and sites of interest, and could
be developed in the other sites if the necessary
planning, management and monitoring tools which
would facilitate hard and soft infrastructure devel-opment
and management were put in place. This
adventure and discovery element places Cameroon
according to Butler’s (1980) tourism area life cycle
at the (late) exploration stage, while it is also a fa-voured
destination of Plog’s (1974) allocentric trav-ellers
and Cohen’s (1972) explorers.
Methodology
The paper adopts a qualitative approach in that
the research is underpinned by 21 in-depth semi-structured
interviews with key tourism industry
stakeholders. Using a purposive snowball sampling
technique (Mason, 2002), public and private sec-tor
stakeholders were co-opted to participate in the
research. In-depth semi-structured interviews and
discussions were used for this research because it
allows “...the interviewer to ask certain, major ques-tions
the same way each time but is free to alter the
sequence and to probe for more information” (Field-ing,
1993: 136). Interviews/discussions lasting be-tween
45 minutes to 1.5 hours were conducted with
offi cials from Cameroon’s Ministries of Tourism,
Forestry and Fauna, and the Ministry of Environ-ment
and Nature Protection (6), tour/hotel opera-tors
and travel agents (7), representatives of local
communities (4), and offi cials working with NGOs
(4) dealing with environmental protection and sus-tainable
tourism development in Cameroon. In ad-dition
6 fi eld trips to potential and existing tourism
development sites in the country were undertaken
between the months of January and April 2009.
Working from a set of prepared guidelines, probing
but non directive questions requesting clarifi cation,
specifi cation and examples wherever need arose
were asked by the researcher to the respondents.
The lack of up-to-date secondary data sources and
the interviewing strategy adopted meant that the
researcher was able to elicit as much information
as possible from the respondents about the topic of
research, and the following results were generated
after a thematic content analysis of the interviews.
Findings and discussion
In spite of possessing the natural elements fa-vouring
the development of an ecologically sustain-able
nature tourism industry that could lead to pov-erty
alleviation and environmental sustainability,
and in spite of the Cameroon government’s stated
commitment to prioritise the development of the
industry as one of the means of stimulating LED
in areas devoid of other mineral resources and in-dustries,
analysis of the interviews with all stake-holders
in Cameroon’s tourism sector as well as
from fi eld observations revealed that it will be very
diffi cult for countries in the Central African sub-re-gion
and Cameroon in particular to attain MDGs 1
& 7 by 2015. This was mainly due to the existence
of some core challenges which made LED through
tourism a far fetched reality. These challenges re-sulted
mainly from the lack of simultaneous com-plementary
investments as well as support ser-
Albert N. Kimbu
ISSN 1695-7121
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PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural, 10(2). Special Issue. 2012
vices and infrastructure in the tourism sector and
in other economic sectors by other economic agents
(Helmsing, 2003). Principal challenges included the
lack of fi nance leading to the non implementation
of management plans, shortage of qualifi ed human
capital and ineffi cient service infrastructure, non
implementation of a general tourism policy frame-work,
confl icts of interest between various stake-holders
and government policies, as well as non-professionalization
of the tourism sector.
Lack of capital for investment and expansion
The lack of fi nance for macro and micro invest-ments,
infrastructural development and manage-ment
was considered by all interviewees to be a
serious handicap. This was the result of little gov-ernment
support to the sector especially after the
economic crisis and subsequent market liberalisa-tion
and introduction of structural adjustment pro-grams
in the mid 1990s whose impacts were still
being felt. The lack of capital was also caused by the
decline in foreign direct investments (FDI) in Came-roon
since the early 1990s notwithstanding the fact
that between the years 1980 and 2000, global FDI
grew more than 20 times from 67 billion to 1271 tril-lion
(Hemlsing, 2003). However Africa received only
a tiny fraction of this FDI and its share actually
dropped from 2.8% in the 1980s to 0.6% in the year
2000, with countries such as Kenya and South Af-rica
profi ting most (UNCTAD, 1999). Consequently
many potential attractions in Cameroon lacked the
basic hard and soft infrastructure and services to
accommodate and cater for tourists’ needs (Kimbu,
2011).
Absence of a tourism policy and non implementa-tion
of a general tourism development framework
Tourism development almost always involves a
greatly expanded role of the state in developing hard
and soft infrastructure, drafting and implementing
a tourism policy and strategy (dealing with issues
such as land use policies, training and employment,
visa policy, foreign exchange requirements and im-port
regulations, etc) after consultation with other
stakeholders (Jenkins & Henry, 1982; Wood, 1980).
Tourism policy therefore provides the guidelines
and the reference points against which any devel-opments
in the sector should be evaluated (Dieke,
2006). That notwithstanding, Cameroon’s tourism
industry had no clear and concise development and
management plan and policy nor a National Tour-ism
Offi ce to oversee its development and manage-ment.
Though a few attempts had in the past been
made to come up with policy documents and stra-tegic
frameworks they were never implemented,
partly due to lack of fi nance, partly because they
were over-ambitious and partly because they were
contextually not applicable, having been drawn up
by persons (foreign consultants) not well versed
with the realities of Cameroon. Examples include
the Tourism Sectoral Development Plan drawn up
in 2005 which outlined some of the potential sites
and types of tourism that had to be developed/con-solidated
(MINTOUR, 2007), the 2002 Tourism
Marketing Plan and the 2008 Destination Branding
Report, which respectively outlined strategies for
marketing and branding the country as a tourism
destination (EMG, 2008; Expansion Strategies Inc.,
2002). The absence of a national tourism policy and
tourism development strategy has led to the indus-try
being in a disorganised state, with very little co-operation
and coordination between various branch-es
of the industry and other sectors of the economy,
leading to confl icts of interest among the industry’s
stakeholders.
Confl icting government policies and stakeholder in-terests
Actively involving all persons affected by pro-posed
development and subsequent management
is the underlying premise of stakeholder theory
pioneered by Freeman in 1984. However, confl icting
interests between stakeholders involved in commu-nity
development is a key challenge to LED (Helm-sing,
2005; 2001). This was very evident in Cam-eroon
where persistent confl icts of interest between
the various ministerial departments as well as be-tween
public and private sector stakeholders were
partly responsible for the underdevelopment of a
sustainable tourism industry in the country. This
signifi cantly retarded developments in the industry
and its contribution to LED. That notwithstanding,
cooperation and collaboration as well as integra-tion
and active participation are major issues that
have to be seriously considered and addressed in
any models that deal with the role of stakeholders
in tourism planning, development and management
(Hall, 2000; Tosun, 2000; Bramwell & Sharman,
1999).
In spite of the apparent democratisation and de-centralisation
measures instituted by countries in
the Central African sub-region in the last two dec-ades,
research revealed that in practice, governance
is still to a large extent centrally planned and ad-ministered
with very limited consultation and often
passive participation of the other stakeholders par-
10
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Attainment of MDGs through tourism ...
ISSN 1695-7121
ticularly the communities concerned. This confi rms
Rodriguez-Pose & Tijmstra, (2007) and Hinderson’s
(2003) observations about the lack of consultation
and non-involvement of all stakeholders in LED
initiatives including tourism development and man-agement.
Due to the ever changing developmental
plans of the government, decisions are sometimes
made which stand in direct contradiction to the
MDGs of poverty alleviation and environmental sus-tainability.
‘Strategic national interests’ often super-sede
environmental concerns in national parks and
protected areas in spite of protests from national
and international NGOs. Examples include explo-ration
and eventual exploitation of minerals such
as diamonds, gold, bauxite, nickel and cobalt with-in
parts of the bio-diversity rich Boumba-Bek and
Lobéké National Parks and the Kribi deep sea port
and gas terminal construction project in the East-ern
and Southern Regions of Cameroon respectively.
In the latter, the government and local inhabitants
opted for the construction of the above infrastruc-ture
instead of the creation of a marine park citing
the economic advantages which could accrue from
the realisation of this project in the region over envi-ronmental
concerns (Bainkong, 2009). Other exam-ples
include the proposed construction of the Lom
Pangar and the Mve-Ele hydroelectric power plants/
dams in the Eastern and Southern Regions of Cam-eroon
respectively which will not only fl ood about
318 km² of the Deng Deng Forest Reserve (one of the
rare hardwood forests in Africa) which was spared
destruction during the construction of the World
Bank sponsored Chad–Cameroon pipeline in 2003,
but will also submerge parts of the biodiversity-rich
Lom Pangar Reserve (Horta, 2010; Ngala, 2009).
These are all natural parks with huge potentials for
the development of nature-related tourism activities
which will be destroyed. These projects according to
offi cials of WWF Cameroon will have serious nega-tive
socio-cultural and environmental consequences
because whole communities will be displaced and
the biodiversity found within these parks which
risk being decimated. That notwithstanding, it is
expected that electricity output will be boosted af-ter
the completion of these power plants and there
will be an increase in economic activities when the
commercial exploitation of minerals commences
(Elvido, 2009). Confl icting stakeholder interests
coupled with prioritising immediate short-term eco-nomic
national benefi ts meant that important envi-ronmental
conservation and biodiversity protection
measures taken into consideration when drawing
up management plans often end up being shelved or
only partially implemented.
Non-implementation of management plans
Five year renewable management plans were in-troduced
in all of Cameroon’s main national parks
as from the mid 1990s. However, the effective im-plementation
of these plans which clearly call for
the integration and profi table participation of local
communities in park management and conserva-tion
as well as the development of environmentally
friendly sustainable tourism activities that promote
LED in and around these parks as one of the means
to reduce pressure on the parks’ biodiversity leaves
much to be desired. This is partly due to the inef-fi
ciency of most governments in sub-Saharan Africa
in general and Cameroon in particular where gov-ernment
effectiveness was estimated at just around
30% in 2004 (Nelson, 2008; Kaufman et al., 2005;
World Bank, 2004). Any biodiversity conservation
and ecotourism development projects near or within
parks is mostly realised thanks to the technical and
fi nancial assistance of international non-govern-mental
organisations. Examples include the World
Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the UK Depart-ment
for International Development (UKDFID)
sponsored Korup Project (1997-2002) in the Korup
National Park, the UKDFID – World Bank Global
Environmental Facility (GEF) - German Agency for
Technical Cooperation (GTZ) funded Mount Cam-eroon
Project (1994 - 2002) and the German Devel-opment
Organisation (DED) - GTZ funded ecotour-ism
project of the Mount Cameroon Inter Commu-nal
Ecotourism Organisation (1997-2005). In these
projects, local communities were to be actively and
profi tably engaged in conservation work in these
parks by being trained in alternative income gen-erating
activities centred on conservation and eco-tourism
(Mount-cameroon.org, 2007; LBZG/MCB-CC,
2002). During their duration, former hunters
and forest product gatherers from the surrounding
communities were retrained in sustainable farm-ing
techniques; some were trained and employed to
work as guides, porters, home-stay providers. Un-til
the departure of the foreign partners which was
often accompanied by a freeze in foreign funding,
the projects were very successful in biodiversity con-servation,
poverty alleviation and stimulating LED
in the communities where they were based. In the
various communities for example, special accounts
were created in which a percentage of revenue gen-erated
from tourism activities was deposited and
Albert N. Kimbu
ISSN 1695-7121
11
PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural, 10(2). Special Issue. 2012
used in carrying out developmental projects such
as electrifi cation and potable water provision in the
villages involved. Thereafter, fi nancial and manage-rial
defi ciencies set in, and a good number of villag-ers
who had been gainfully employed in the differ-ent
projects reverted to their past preoccupations
of illegal forest product harvesting and poaching.
In addition, maintenance of the infrastructure on
these sites virtually came to a standstill, and most
are currently in a state of disrepair leading to a cor-responding
decrease in visitor numbers which had
been steadily increasing during these projects. Thus
even though the government’s stated commitment
includes the sustainable development of eco/na-ture
tourism activities around most of Cameroon’s
nature parks and reserves, this is in practice ham-pered
by the desire to commit adequate and scarce
fi nancial resources to achieve these goals. Without
external help from foreign donors as is presently the
case with the WWF sponsored Kudo-Zombo Project
in the Campo-Ma’an National Park, most of these
plans and proposed ecotourism ventures will never
executed (Lukong, 2008).
Defi ciencies in human capital management
Environmental sustainability and conservation
can only be achieved with the right calibre of service
personnel needed to carry out tasks related to con-servation.
Unfortunately this is not the case with
most of Cameroon’s parks and reserves. Just like in
most countries of sub-Saharan Africa, the poor state
of higher education both in physical infrastructure
and human resources has led to a scarcity of quali-fi
ed workers to work in the industry (Rodriguez-
Pose & Tijmstra, 2007; Helmsing, 2003). The pres-ence
of only two professional schools in the country
for the training of senior forestry and wildlife engi-neers
and mid-level forestry technicians and only a
handful of institutions specialised in hospitality and
tourism management means that there is a shortage
of well trained and skilled professional staff needed
to oversee and carry out day to day management,
not only in the natural parks and sites but also in
other sectors of the tourism and hospitality industry
as a whole in the country. In the Korup National
Park for example there were only 3 mid-level tech-nicians
and 20 ecoguards responsible for patrolling
and ecological monitoring. This was lesser than the
number stipulated in the Park Management Plan
(which provided for 36 ecoguards) and when the
IUCN ratio of ecoguards to park surface area was
taken into consideration. It was the same situation
in all the other parks and reserves in the country.
As a result, parks such as the Dja Faunal Reserve,
Banyang-Mbo sanctuary and the Faro National
Park which was home to a large variety of threat-ened
species such as black rhinoceroses, elephants
and cheetahs were over-poached by poachers mostly
from the neighbouring Central African Republic
and Chad and illegal lumber harvesting was carried
out by companies which had concessions near these
parks (Nchandji, 2006; Nyang, M. & Hamerlynck,
2006; MacAllister, 2005; Riley & Riley, 2005). In ad-dition,
the remoteness of most of these parks, cou-pled
with low public sector wages in general and in
the tourism industry in particular in sub-Saharan
Africa and Cameroon, also acted as a disincentive
and made it diffi cult for the industry to attract and
retain qualifi ed staff willing to work in these parks
(The Commission for Africa, 2005; Helmsing, 2002).
It is as a result of these defi ciencies that in the
2009 Travel and Tourism Competiveness Report,
Cameroon was classed a lowly 94th in terms of the
availability of local research and training facilities
and 104th in terms of the extent staff training in the
tourism sector out of 133 countries. A lot of improve-ments
need to be done in this sector for it to be com-petitive
(Blanke & Chiesa, 2009). Tourism develop-ment
that contributes to the reduction of extreme
poverty, promotes environmental sustainability and
ultimately plays a strategic role in LED in Cam-eroon
can be successfully developed if complemen-tary
investments take place in other related sectors
of the chain both upstream and downstream.
Contribution: Towards the implementation of a
sustainable tourism approach that guarantees lo-cal
economic development
The absence of an effective tourism framework
coupled with the lack of fi nance for the development
and promotion of all other aspects of the industry rel-egates
tourism in Cameroon to a secondary activity.
Many private agents engaged in the sector consider
it as an addendum to their other business interests.
A similar scenario plays out in the local communities
where those employed consider the sector as not be-ing
sustainable enough for them to engage in it full
time. Thus when ecotourism ventures are initiated
in most communities (Mount Cameroon Region, Ko-rup
National Park or Belo Rural Development Pro-ject
for example), the amount of enthusiasm shown
by the locals is always very low. The benefi ts of the
training courses offered to villagers which often ac-company
the introduction of these projects are often
12
PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural, 10(2). Special Issue. 2012
Attainment of MDGs through tourism ...
ISSN 1695-7121
short-lived because when participants trained in
various capacities (as guides, porters, ecoguards) re-alise
that the proceeds from tourism are neither im-mediate
nor regular, depending largely on the tour-ist
season (November to April) and visitor numbers,
the general tendency is for them go back to their
past preoccupations which are often unsustainable
and have negative environmentally consequences.
Consequently, in comparison to countries such as
Botswana, Kenya or Senegal where up to 6% of the
labour force is employed in the travel and tourism
industry, which itself contributed more than 6% to
the GDP of these countries in 2008, in Cameroon
the WTTC estimates show that only 1.3% of total
employment was generated from direct tourism in-dustry
jobs and 3.5% of total national employment
was generated by the travel and tourism economy
as a whole. In addition, the travel and tourism in-dustry
in Cameroon was expected to contribute only
2.9% to the GDP during this same period (Blanke &
Chiesa, 2008).
In order to guarantee the effective utilisation of
Cameroon’s tourism potential as one of the key tools
for attaining the MDGs of poverty alleviation and
environmental sustainability and in so doing LED,
tourism would fi rst and foremost have to be recog-nised
as being on a par with other industrial sectors
in Cameroon with the capacity to generate revenue
and contribute to the GDP, create jobs and improve
standards of living. If this reality is recognised and
accepted by the government, the Ministry of Tour-ism
and related ministries will have to be provided
with a budget enabling them to put in place the nec-essary
hard and soft infrastructure which will facili-tate
the effective development and management of
the country’s tourism industry (Dieke, 2006; Wood,
1980). This is however not the case presently. Fig-ure
1 is a proposed integrated framework which will
facilitate LED and the attainment of the MDGs of
poverty alleviation and environmental sustainabil-ity
through the development of a sustainable nature-based
tourism industry in Cameroon.
The double-sided arrows in Figure 1 clearly indi-cate
that in order to successfully introduce tourism
to the communities as a tool for local economic de-velopment,
poverty alleviation and environmental
protection in Cameroon, various inter-relating fac-tors
will have to be taken into consideration when
developing a tourism strategy. The fi rst major task
would involve the development of a tourism strat-egy
which would clearly defi ne the mission, goals
and objectives of tourism development in the coun-try,
region and communities. Identifying and in-ventorying
all existing and potential development
sites and stakeholders, the challenges inherent in
their development and the development of manage-ment
plans will also be another key element in this
strategy. It is only after this that it will be possible
to have a clear picture of the industry and develop-ment
facilitated.
Another important chore in the development
process will be for the government and committed
private sector stakeholders and non-governmental
organisations to carry out education and sensitisa-tion
campaigns throughout the country and most
especially in areas of existing and potential tourism
development sites. The inhabitants will have to be
sensitised and educated on the benefi ts that the sus-tainable
development and management of tourism
resources can bring to their communities, as well as
made aware of the fact that tourism development is
a continuous process requiring constant monitoring
and its rewards are not often immediate.
Just as with any LED projects, local communi-ties,
as Helmsing (2003) and Helmsing (2005) re-marked,
have to be empowered and given the free-dom
to control and manage the tourism projects.
Empowerment will come through decentralisation
which Rogerson and Rogerson, (2010) and (Helm-sing,
2001) observed often leads to better manage-ment
of a community’s resources and projects. Suc-cessful
management and monitoring of these pro-jects
can only be guaranteed after they must have
received initial training through capacity building
workshops and institutions set up by the govern-ment
in conjunction with other stakeholders with
the necessary expertise and know-how. Without
the necessary training, the community members
will not be able to manage these structures prop-erly.
Proper management and regular monitoring
will lead to tourism being developed in a sustain-able
manner and the attainment of MDGs 1 and 7
(Figure 1).
Another factor to be taken into consideration will be
that of active stakeholder collaboration and cooper-ation,
which is essential to the success of LED pro-jects.
This, according to Helmsing (2005) and Helm-sing
& Egziabher (2005), was a critical stumbling
block for many LED initiatives in SSA. All tourism
industry stakeholders will have to effectively work
together in the development of the industry, which
would have to be placed under the supervision of
an autonomous national, regional and local tourism
boards (bringing together representatives of public
Albert N. Kimbu
ISSN 1695-7121
13
PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural, 10(2). Special Issue. 2012
and private sector stakeholders) that will have to
be created. One of the initial tasks of this board will
be to come up with a practical and fi nancially sus-tainable
framework for tourism development and
management in the country, as well as to assume
responsibility for the professionalization of the in-dustry.
It is this framework that will clearly outline
the direction of tourism’s development and the steps
that will have to be overcome in order to achieve the
sustainability the industry’s development.
The government on its part, in addition to creat-ing
the basic enabling infrastructure necessary for
tourism development in the country which, as Rod-riguez-
Pose & Tijmstra (2007), Helmsing, (2003)
and Helmsing (2001) noted will not only serve the
industry but the locality as a whole, will also have
to liberalise the sector and reduce the administra-tive
bottlenecks as well as give tax incentives to
potential investors. These measures will not only
stimulate local investments by local private sector
individuals but could also attract foreign direct in-vestments
from international investors who up till
now have shied away from undertaking any serious
developments in the country because of the general
absence of a conducive environment for tourism de-velopment.
In addition, the government should engage in
a serious and continuous marketing campaign in
the potential source markets of Europe and North
America where very little has been done up till now
as regards marketing and promotion. This market-ing
could take place in the form tourism trade fair
attendances in reputed fairs of Berlin, Paris and
London for example.
Conclusion
The spatial location of the country, the rich and
varied topographical, fl oral and faunal biodiversity
and as well as the multi-linguistic and cultural di-versity
of the country provide the primary compo-nents
necessary in making Cameroon a very fertile
terrain for the development of a sustainable tourism
industry capable of signifi cantly contributing to the
realisation of the Millennium Development Goals
of poverty alleviation and environmental sustain-ability.
However a lot of work still has to be done
with regards to coordinating and providing the nec-
How can MDGs/LED be attained?
Regional/institutional commitment & involvement
in:
 Institution of resource development &
management plans
 Sourcing of funding opportunities
 Identification, planning & execution of
sustainable tourism opportunities
 Active public/private/community
participation &cooperation
 Education, training and sensitisation
 Basic infrastructural development
Strategy for
promoting LED
and attaining
MDGs
Where is Cameroon presently?
Diverse and abundant nature tourism
assets but:
 Financial constraints
 Limited stakeholder co-operation
 Lack of skilled human resources &
ignorance
 Inadequate service infrastructure and
facilities
Active monitoring mechanisms
Regular performance checks
Attainment of Millennium
Development Goals 1 & 7
Local economic development
Local Economic Development
 Local participation
 Stakeholder involvement
 Socio-economic community
development
Millennium Development Goals
Poverty alleviation
environmental sustainability
Engagement
Education
Investigation
Implementation
Figure 1. Framework for the Attainment of Millennium Development Goals (1 & 7) and LED through Sustainable Tourism Development in
Cameroon
14
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Attainment of MDGs through tourism ...
ISSN 1695-7121
essary services and infrastructures which will har-ness
these potentials and make them profi table to
all stakeholders engaged, and which will guarantee
that future generations still get to profi t from them.
It is only when this foundation has been laid and
constant monitoring ensured that it will be possi-ble
to look positively into the future and be certain
that tourism will be a signifi cant arsenal in the fi ght
against poverty and environmental sustainability
in Cameroon.
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Recibido: 15/02/2011
Reenviado: 30/09/2011
Aceptado: 31/10/2011
Sometido a evaluación por pares anónimos