Raphia palm and people: towards a historical ecology of the western highlands of Cameroon

The presentation will be in french, but with slides in english.

The history of societies and environments in sub-Saharan Africa, in particular the role of human practices in landscape formation and transformation, remains under-documented. However, interdisciplinary research combining both the natural sciences and the social sciences, such as the approach proposed by historical ecology, provides a new way of reading the past and present landscapes.

Through my doctoral research, I study the transformation of the landscapes of the western highlands of Cameroon since the end of the 19th century. More specifically, my research focuses on the relationships (uses, local ecological knowledges and know-how, management and governance practices, social representations) between the Grassfields societies and the Raphia vinifera palm, an essential plant resource and a key element of landscapes.

This presentation will provide you with a more detailed presentation of the main objectives of my research and the interdisciplinary approach I develop. I will also present preliminary ethnographic data from 2.5 months spent in the field in 2019. Finally, I will share with you the new questions that have emerged in the field and the areas I would like to explore further in the coming year.

Le «Bouillon d'idées» est un séminaire proposé par le groupe de recherche «Développement, Sociétés, Environnements», dans lequel les chercheuses et les chercheurs sont invité·e·s à présenter une recherche en cours.

L'entrée est libre. N'hésitez pas à amener votre repas.