Transnational NGDOS and participatory forms of rights‐based development: converging with the local politics of citizenship in Cameroon

Abstract

The transmission of 'participatory development' by transnational non-governmental development organizations (NGDOs) to local 'partners' in developing countries is today widely criticized, often because of an apparent failure to attain the essentially political goal of 'empowerment'. This article argues that this problem relates closely to a failure amongst NGDOs to engage with the political context in which 'citizenship participation' is contested in developing countries. Case study material reveals how one participatory development intervention has converged with a particular moment in the trajectory of citizenship formation amongst the target group, and with the local politics of citizenship in Cameroon more broadly, in ways that have, at best, ambiguous implications for the 'empowerment' of the local participants. The paper concludes by discussing how 'rights-based' approaches might overcome these problems, and the challenge that this poses for the transnational development community. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Nimbleness of Being Fulani

“…So we grew up passing down the label uncivilized. At the bottom rungs of our Jacob's ladder, we-the so-called bona fide sons and daughters of the Western Grassfields, the sedentary groupings, so to speak (Warnier 1984(Warnier , 2012)-confined the Mbororo-Fulani, who number between 80,000 and 120,000, are often called nomadic or seminomadic (despite becoming more sedentary), are known to be "most resistant to change," and have been in the region since the early 1900s (Davis 1995:217-218;Hickey 2002). 3 To those of us who celebrated linear ideas of civilization, to consider as equals people who lived in the hills in huts, herded cattle, hardly farmed, depended on selling milk and butter for subsistence, seldom sent their children to school, and could hardly speak or understand pidgin English, the lingua franca, was tantamount to an unforgivable insult to civilization.…”

“…This in turn leads to the collision between the practice of extensive grazing and seasonal transhumance by Mbororo-Fulani herders and the shifting system of cultivation practiced by farmers in the Western Grassfields (Dafinger and Pelican 2006:132-136;Duni et al 2009;Pelican 2006Pelican :201-241, 2008a). The resilience of perceptions of Fulani as nomads means that non-Fulani groups can justify almost any claim to land where Fulani graze their cattle, regardless of how long they may have domesticated the land on their own terms (Dafinger and Pelican 2006;Davis 1995;Duni et al 2009;Hickey 2002Hickey , 2004Hickey , 2007.…”

“…15 It advertises itself and the community it purports to represent in brochures and on its website in the language of essentialism dear to transnational NGOs seeking recognition, representation, and protection for indigenous minorities, referring to the "nomadic and pastoralist way of africatoday 59 (3) life" and the Pulaaku code of behavior and the "emotional attachment to cattle" of Mbororo-Fulani, whom it portrays as "victims of a lifestyle and culture and refugees of context"-a situation "further complicated by illiteracy, ignorance, [and] lack of foresight and cooperation." Its youthful, welleducated leadership regularly attends seminars and workshops nationally and internationally, campaigning for support, especially in their fight against Danpullo, represented as actively working against the interests of Mbororo-Fulani, and as a real force of evil 16 (Davis 1995;Duni et al 2009;Hickey 2002Hickey , 2004Hickey , 2007Hickey , 2011Keja 2009;Pelican 2006Pelican :145-148, 2008aPelican , 2011aPelican , 2011b. Although MBOSCUDA enjoys much support among Mbororo-Fulani in and beyond the Western Grassfields (Hickey 2011:36-43), it is criticized for being overly politicized and for the misappropriation of funds.…”

Relocating Participation within a Radical Politics of Development

“…Moreover, the NGOs that generally receive support under the 'civil society' agenda tend to accord with the tenets of the neoliberal development project (Howell and Pearce, 2001). Third, relationships that are forged within this transnational community -both between 'northern' and 'southern' NGOs (Fowler, 1998) and between NGOs and local communities (Hickey, 2002;Miraftab, 1997) -often disempower the 'lower' partner through establishing patron-client relationships. The fourth and related problem is the tendency amongst NGOs to eschew partnerships with more political elements within civil society in favour of capacity-building professionalized NGOs in their image.…”

Grassroots Participation for Infrastructural Provisioning in Northwest Cameroon: Are Village Development Associations the Panacea?

“…This is in spite of examples across the continent of ordinary people tackling their plight in creative ways (Bratton 1990). The surge of interest in participatory development within transnational development work has found a particular resonance in Cameroon's Northwest Province, where development initiatives based on community participation, self-help, and self-reliance have a long genealogy (Nkwi 1997;Acho-Chi 1998;Hickey 2002). The creation of VDAs is spearheaded variously by concerned indigenes residing within and out of the village -the elite, traditional rulers, some retired persons of high standing in the community -often with institutional support from dynamic local administrators (senior divisional or divisional officers at the helm of state administration).…”