Cameroon is particularly exposed to climate change: its areas in the north extend into the Sahel and are increasingly affected by desertification, while coastal areas in the southwest are threatened by sea level rise. According to the National Observatory of Climate Change (ONACC for the French acronym), the country’s geographical location makes it “highly vulnerable” to climate-related hazards such as droughts, floods in its tropical cities and the effects of El Niño phenomenon throughout the country, as well as the monsoon and the rise of water on the coast. “All this has led to a change in the pattern and distribution of precipitation throughout Cameroon, resulting in recurring extreme phenomena such as heat waves, rising temperatures, the succession of hot and cold nights, flash floods and their associated consequences,” explains Patrick Forghab Mbomba, Deputy Director General of ONACC.
Several recent episodes demonstrate this vulnerability. For the first time in more than a century, the dam bed on the hill where Mbankolo lies in Yaoundé (in the southwest of the country but far from the coast) is filled with wet mud instead of water. The birds chirp as they work on their nests in the twisted branches of the trees in this desolate landscape. The persistent and heavy rains that fell in the Cameroonian capital on October 8 caused the basin’s approximately 700 square meter dam to burst, releasing its water mixed with mud and stones downstream. They destroyed everything in their path, including fifty houses precariously constructed of wood, adobe and metal sheets. The official death toll is 30, but residents claim there are many more. Several dozen people suffered varying degrees of injuries and nearly 60 families were affected. “It came like an atomic bomb,” recalls Jean Ambassa, 24, who witnessed the disaster from home. “I saw how the violent torrent of water swept away houses and lives. “It looked like a movie.”
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The dam, built by the Germans during the colonial era (1884-1915), gave way to torrential rains in the Cameroonian capital, coupled with a lack of maintenance. Several climate experts insist the landslide could have been avoided. In its October 1 bulletin, the ONACC warned of the imminent arrival of extreme rainfall in Yaoundé between October 8 and 10 and warned of a “very high risk” of flooding.
Houses destroyed by water after a dam burst in Mbankolo (Yaoundé, Cameroon), on October 8.NALOVA AKUA
Fabian Mebara, 49, was the only member of his family in the area at the time of the disaster. “The water current pulled me more than 150 meters. “I was holding on to a tree trunk,” he remembers. “My house was destroyed. “I lost everything: TV, pots, gas bottle, bed, phone, money… The clothes I wear are the only thing I have left.”
“I saw how the violent torrent of water swept away houses and lives. It seemed like a movie”
Jean Ambassa, resident of Yaoundé
Yaoundé, also called the “City of Seven Hills”, is dominated by a predominantly hilly relief characterized by numerous valleys that can reach up to 700 meters high. According to the climate experts surveyed, the city, in which 4.5 million inhabitants live, is highly exposed to all kinds of earth movements due to these characteristics. “Cameroon researchers and geographers have recently recommended taking action to prevent further human settlement on the slopes,” says Forghab Mbomba. Due to climate change, the southwestern region where Yaoundé is located is experiencing increasing fluctuations in rainfall and the city is unprepared to drain excess water, leading to floods and landslides. During the rainy season, these episodes occur almost weekly in the capital and other parts of the country.
The consequences are often fatal. At least 14 people died last November when an embankment collapsed in the Damas de Youndé district. In 2019, a landslide swept away a dozen dilapidated houses built into a hillside in Cameroon’s western region, killing at least 43 people.
“It is obvious that the recurring occurrence of these dangers is a consequence of global climate change, which manifests itself locally,” explains the expert. “Although the severity and extent of the damage caused depends largely on the nature and nature of human activities in the affected area, the design and planning of cities, general land use, the level of awareness of climate change and the extent of preparation. “
The sea is rising, the land is becoming desolate
According to a situation report by the UN Environment Program (UNEP), climate change affects more than 70% of Cameroon’s population (27.2 million inhabitants), whose livelihoods directly depend on agriculture, an activity that accounts for 17% of the country’s GDP. The authors feel the socioeconomic impact is particularly felt among women, who make up 75% of workers in the informal agricultural sector and are primarily responsible for the household.
For a country that relies heavily on natural resources and agriculture, climate change poses “an immediate threat to development,” the World Bank notes. Tropical forests, which cover almost 40% of the country, provide around eight million rural residents with basic food, medicine, fuel and building materials. But changes in temperature, rainfall and drought are likely to impact these ecosystems, putting rural populations at greater risk of suffering more poverty, the agency says. Under current climate conditions, about two million of Cameroon’s 27 million people live in drought-affected areas and about 8% of the country’s GDP is at risk, UNEP summarizes.
On Cameroon’s 470-kilometer Atlantic coast in the southeast, the impacts include sea level rise, coastal erosion, mudflats and huge waves uprooting mangroves and coconut trees. The affected coastal communities, including Douala (a city considered the country’s economic center), are using sandbags, fences and logs as breakwaters, which have not had much use so far.
“Today in Cameroon there are numerous unfortunate examples of sea intrusions on the coast, leading to the destruction of piers, beaches and houses,” explains Isaac Njilah Konfor, groundwater expert and associate professor of geology at the University of Yaoundé. The worst, he warns, is yet to come for the Cameroonian coast if “immediate action” is not taken. “The floods in Douala – very destructive and frequent – are due to poor urbanization, but are also closely linked to sea level rise,” he explains. “The beach was more than 100 meters from the Kribi highway 30 years ago [al sur] Now there is a threat of tar on the road. According to my calculations, the road connecting Kribi to the rest of the world will be cut off in the next two years.”
The large waves have not only threatened or destroyed restaurants and homes, but have also caused drownings and disrupted fishing activity. On October 9, two fishermen died in the water on a beach in Kribi. And half a dozen other fishermen died in August due to strong ocean currents. “The waves were so strong in August that they flooded the beach and crossed the nearby road,” said Ida Kwedi, 62, who lives in Kribi. The mother of four, who has been selling fish for 30 years, explains that fish will “become scarce” as sea levels rise. “The water currents scare them away. Now that the sea has receded, we have fish,” he says. Ambassa Pierre, a local fisherman, says Kribi has never had such strong waves in the last decade. “We went up to a month without fish because of sea level rise,” he recalls.
The fishing sector in Cameroon employs more than 240,000 artisanal fishermen and vendors and contributes 3% of GDP.
Cameroon must address global warming and take measures to reduce the production of greenhouse gases
Evina Lydie, professor at the University of Yaoundé
Evina Lydie, an expert in environmental dynamics and risks and professor at the University of Yaoundé, agrees that the sea waves on Cameroon’s Atlantic coast have become “increasingly violent” and are attacking the land to the extent that residents of the area are “losing out”. some agricultural land.” “Residents estimate this decline to be around one meter per year, so the risk could be extremely catastrophic in the coming years and result in some properties disappearing completely,” he explains.
For Lydie, protecting the coast from impending disaster would mean “removing residents from this risky environment, banning construction in these fragile places and enforcing coastal management laws and regulations without negligence or favoritism.” And he adds: “Cameroon must counteract global warming and take measures to curb the production of greenhouse gases.”
For his part, Njilah recommends three short-term measures to prevent sea erosion on Cameroon’s Atlantic coast. Firstly, it is proposed to build long structures made of stone, steel, concrete or wood parallel to the beach. “The Kribi City Council has tried but is not making progress because the costs are huge considering how many kilometers of coastline are affected,” he explains. The second measure, according to the groundwater expert, will require the construction of dams. . And it mandates planting in coastal areas. “The roots of the plants anchor the sand and prevent it from being carried away.”
Regarding measures to prevent long-term coastal erosion, he points out that detailed historical and current studies must be carried out along the entire coast to identify and map the most affected and vulnerable areas to marine intrusion. He also believes that “raising awareness, forming local disaster management committees and providing simple tools to deal with floods and landslides before the intervention of national or international organizations” could be game-changers.
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