Plantation Agriculture as a Driver of Deforestation and Degradation of Central African Coastal Estuarine Forest Landscape of South-Western Cameroon - The Land/Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone of West and Central Africa - page 164

Fig. 1 Map of the south-west
region showing the study area

and Dibamba rivers. To the west of the estuary are the
slopes

Overview of Plantation Agriculture in Cameroon

of Mount Cameroon covered with banana

plantations.
Agriculture is the mainstay of the Cameroon economy.
Pesticides are not regulated and also contribute to pollution.
Pesticides that have long been banned elsewhere are still in
use. The growing population is increasing production of
export crops such as coffee, cocoa, bananas and palm oil,
using imported pesticides and fertilizers. Typically fertil-
izers contain urea, ammonia and phosphorus. Pesticides
applied are mostly DDT and other derivatives of organo-
halogens (Sama 1996 ).

Plantation agriculture managed by the CDC is an important
economic activity in south-western Cameroon, employing
over 15,856 workers and contributing significantly to the
national economy. The 2002 statistics of the Consultative
Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
estimates that agriculture accounts for 43 % of the GDP of
the area. Rubber and banana have been grown in the forest
zone of south-western Cameroon for close to a century (CDC
Reports). Plantation agriculture began in the south-western
region of Cameroon in 1885, when the two leading German