Analyzing Coping Strategies and Adaptation after Resettlement—Case Study of Ekondo Kondo, Cameroon and Ekondo Kondo Model of Adaptation

Abstract

This article centrally deals with the resettlement of the Cameroonian village Ekondo Kondo. In the following paper, I present resettlements as catastrophic events for the relocated populations. Research was conducted in the resettled Cameroonian village of Ekondo Kondo. The objectives of the research were to find out what kind of changes and challenges (positive and negative) people faced after relocation, whether these changes and challenges illustrated aspects of adaptation after resettlement which are lacking in the literature, and whether they could be included in the existing models of adaptation after resettlement to provide an enhanced framework for resettlement-linked projects. I demonstrate the consequences of the relocation for women and men. Whereas women developed coping strategies, adapted to the new village (site) 13 years after the relocation, and were able to emancipate themselves, men are still struggling with the relocation’s changes including threats to their former social role as hunters. These results support my argument that the existing adaptation models in the literature do not depict all key challenges the relocated populations have to go through. According to the fieldwork results, there are several adaptation processes in different key areas which do not follow one another or run homogenously but overlap and sometimes happen at the same time and on different levels. Additionally, there are significant gender specific differences which can be depicted in these key areas. Further predispositions of social groups, such as interests or experiences, can influence the processes of coping and adaptation as well. For this reason, I present and introduce the Ekondo Kondo Model of adaptation after relocation, which can be helpful both for difficult adaptation following disasters and adaptation processes when people develop fast coping strategies and get positive results.