The Effects of Sustainable Tourism on the Pygmies of Cameroon
Njenji, Julius (2014)
Laurea-ammattikorkeakoulu
2014
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2014112316377
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2014112316377
Tiivistelmä
The Cameroon Pygmies like many indigenous groups of the World are facing threats and marginalization or discrimination on the land they first possessed by their neighboring farmer´s group known as, the Bantus and the Cameroon Government policies as a result of tourism development. This study examines The Effects of Sustainable Tourism on the Pygmies of Cameroon as the government pushes its policy to invest more in tourism, hoping to make Cameroon a tourist destination by 2035. The tourism growth will undoubtedly bring revenue to the Cameroon government but may result to further threats to the culture of the Pygmies whose territory is today being reduced in the creation of national parks and lumbering industry´s activities by the government or foreign investors.
Furthermore, it is noticeable that music has been and remains an important aspect of the Pygmy culture. Some tourists have helped to push the Pygmy cultural music into the market and so, this is reducing the poverty level of the area, ranked as high. Two musical bands available today in the Baka Pygmy communities are the BakaGbine and the Baka beyond, whose music have gone round the nation and around the world.
The research method involved in this work is qualitative analysis. The data collection for this study involves primary and secondary data collections in the form of theme interview, structural observation, documentary by camera, literature and article review. Some organizations or stakeholders of the tourism industry in Cameroon and Finland were interviewed via representatives from whom the data was collected, composed and segmented to get the results. The findings reveal that the Pygmies who are original indigenous people of the Congo Basin and traditionally hunters-gatherers are abandoning their culture because their land has been taken away by the government in national parks creation and lumbering industry´s activities. As a result of the pressure, the people are now practicing semi-sedentary settlement and going gathering or hunting only for short periods of the year. At the roadside settlements, they have turned to practice agriculture like the neighboring Bantus but are not good at farming and so, this increases the poverty level.
Furthermore, it is noticeable that music has been and remains an important aspect of the Pygmy culture. Some tourists have helped to push the Pygmy cultural music into the market and so, this is reducing the poverty level of the area, ranked as high. Two musical bands available today in the Baka Pygmy communities are the BakaGbine and the Baka beyond, whose music have gone round the nation and around the world.
The research method involved in this work is qualitative analysis. The data collection for this study involves primary and secondary data collections in the form of theme interview, structural observation, documentary by camera, literature and article review. Some organizations or stakeholders of the tourism industry in Cameroon and Finland were interviewed via representatives from whom the data was collected, composed and segmented to get the results. The findings reveal that the Pygmies who are original indigenous people of the Congo Basin and traditionally hunters-gatherers are abandoning their culture because their land has been taken away by the government in national parks creation and lumbering industry´s activities. As a result of the pressure, the people are now practicing semi-sedentary settlement and going gathering or hunting only for short periods of the year. At the roadside settlements, they have turned to practice agriculture like the neighboring Bantus but are not good at farming and so, this increases the poverty level.