Population, Production, and Culture in the Plains Societies of Northern Cameroon and Chad: The Anthropologist in Development Projects [and Comments]

Abstract

In the context of an FAO seminar on agricultural planning and population, the author shows what the anthropologist can contribute to the analysis of this kind of problem. The case put forward is based on five years of field research in Chad and Cameroon from 1958 to 1976, among the Masa, Musey, Tuburi, and Kera. Their demography, production system, and social organization are examined. In a regional framework large enough to warrant a fresh planning effort, it seems technically feasible to improve the agricultural production and monetary income of the groups involved, provided that the local situations are analyzed sufficiently finely. An anthropological approach is required to uncover the cultural factors on which demographic change largely depends. The main factors are an economically very constraining marriage system and a processs of cultural assimilation by the dominant Islamic populations that has profound historical resonance and is reinforced by contemporary political change. Considering their underlying political implications, there is little chance that the anthropologist's observations will be considered if they take into account the cultural peculiarities of nonmajority groups. The author takes this opportunity to question the anthropologist's role in economic and social development projects and the ambiguity of a situation alternating between that of a would-be detached observed and that of a militant advisor in the countries in which he is still active.