Research Seminar in Anthropology: Mouadjamou Ahmadou, SOCIOECONOMIC CHANGES ON THE BORDER BETWEEN NIGERIA AND CAMEROON (MANDARA MOUNTAINS

SOCIOECONOMIC CHANGES, COPING STRATEGIES AND SOCIAL INTEGRATION IN MOGODE: A KAPSIKI VILLAGE ON THE BORDER BETWEEN NIGERIA AND CAMEROON (MANDARA MOUNTAINS)

By MOUADJAMOU Ahmadou, Visual Anthropology, The Sociology and Anthropology Department, The University of Maroua, Cameroon

This thesis addresses social and economic changes in Kapsikiland and how people adapt to them. Mogodé, the empirical frame of this study, is the main settlement of Kapsiki People. It is located in Southern Mandara, a mountain chain at the border between Cameroon and Nigeria. To understand the socio-economic dynamics in this village, numerous factors including politics, economics, religion, language issues and security threats are identified and taken into consideration. The analysis highlights the interplay between production for subsistence and production for commerce among the Kapsiki people from 2004 until 2018.

This development leads to the emergence of a new class of businessmen and women in the village, opening for new relations in space and time. Nowadays, youth in Mogodé use these opportunities to extend their relations with other communities outside Kapsikiland. They become deeply involved in political activities and gain control over certain advantageous positions. These transformations bring into being new careers and new statuses.  Such new and complex population mobility poses also challenges and affects the local concerns for the future of this village, its people, and population dynamics.

 The thesis gives also insights about the Kapsiki household as the main unit of production and consumption. It is imperative that every member of the household, husband, wives and children are gradually and actively involved in income generating processes and in running various economic enterprises.

The study is based on interdisciplinary approaches to collecting data and in their analysis, whereas the method of participant observation with camera is actively employed and explored.

Key words: Mandara mountains, Kapsiki, Entrepreneurs, career and challenge.