Saving the Environment in Sub-Saharan Africa ─ Organizational Dynamics and Effectiveness of NGOs in Cameroon

This book examines an important but neglected topic: environmental NGOs in sub-Saharan Africa. Although there is increasing emphasis on the potential of NGOs for solving Africa's environmental and development problems and strengthening civil society, research raises questions about NGO effectiveness. Based on a survey of research from across Africa and an intensive study of 52 Cameroonian environmental NGOs with diverse goals and social and ecological contexts, this book argues that understanding environmental NGOs' potential contributions requires both studying diverse NGO types and applying appropriate theory. In contrast to 'top down' theories of civil society or the 'environmentalism of the poor'—which assume that NGOs will fit into the niches the theories envision for them—the authors apply theories of organizations to examine how NGOs' efforts to promote sustainable development are affected by their funding, management strategies, and relationships with government, communities, and other NGOs. Research results challenge conventional wisdom about the conditions under which environmental NGOs can solve environmental problems, strengthen civil society, and participate in social movements. The authors explore the implications of this for theory and offer practical and innovative suggestions for increasing NGOs effectiveness.

William Markham is Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA, and Director of the University's interdisciplinary Environmental Studies Program. He is the recipient of three Fulbright awards for research in Germany and Cameroon and has been a Visiting Scholar at Wellesley College, the Hogg Foundation at the University of Texas at Austin, Humboldt University in Berlin, the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany, the Archive and Museum for Nature Protection in Germany, Wageningen University in the Netherlands, and the University of Buea in Cameroon. In 2010-2011 he was Chancellor's Resident Fellow in UNCG's Lloyd International Honors College.

Lotsmart Fonjong is Associate Professor of Geography and the Vice-Dean in the Faculty of Social and Management Sciences at the University of Buea, Cameroon. He is winner of many international grants and author of several scientific publications in development issues including his book The Challenges of Non-governmental Organizations in Anglophone Cameroon (2007).