Changing Legislation and Neglect of Local Government’s Role in the Management of Farmer-Grazier Conflicts as Rational for the Degeneration of Crises in the Bamenda Grasslands of Cameroon

Farmer-grazier conflicts remain one of the greatest factors that have impeded peaceful coexistence between farmers and graziers in the Bamenda Grasslands of Cameroon. In spite of attempts made by the colonial and post-colonial governments in arresting the problem, the hitch has persisted over the years. Though the re-occurrence of these conflicts has been attributed to corruption perpetuated by those involved in the management of these crises, the paper argues that the termination of local government’s role in the management of these conflicts in 1978 instead intensified skirmishes. Drawing allusion from colonial legislation where local governments had the final authority, outbursts was uncommon. However, the granting of authority to central government officials after independence instead fanned these conflicts and greatly worked against its mitigation. The paper concludes that, for the effective eradication of these conflicts, local government’s involvement is necessary since they understand local realities in their communities than appointed civil servants or central authority agents.