Mountainous regions and other difficult terrains, the world over, present significant challenges to communities as they strive to carry out their daily activities. In spite of these difficulties, strategies have been employed by communities to cope with such difficulties, yielding diverse outcomes. The extent and outcomes of survival strategies employed by communities, still beg for scientific and policy edification, in the context of the Western Highlands of Cameroon. This paper contributes to bridge the knowledge gap, by examining the survival strategies employed by locals in the Kom Highlands to confront the challenges presented by the harsh physical environment. 10 key informant interviews were conducted accompanied by a representative survey of 60 farming household heads, drawn from 5 villages in Fundong. The data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistical tools, including the Chi-square analysis. The results reveal that Kom displays a plethora of harsh physical environmental characteristics, prominent among them are the hilly and difficult terrain, the poor soil quality and the generally cold weather conditions witnessed here. Faced with these challenges, the population employed a number of survival strategies in the agricultural sector, housing and transport. These strategies are unfortunately inadequate and such inadequacy is accounted for by their low level of technology, poverty, ignorance and other cultural factors, among others. The study therefore recommends the need to improve and modernize agriculture through the provision of fertilizers at subsidized rates to the farming population, the encouragement of effective slope stabilization and terracing and also for rigorous government intervention in terms of road and fly over constructions.

Rapid and uncontrolled urbanization in several parts of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), has introduced a plethora of urban development challenges. This has left city governments ‘standing in their sleep’, as they strive to deal such issues. A classic example is solid waste management – with waste considered to be principally an urban problem. While the issue of waste has been belaboured in the literature, there is a dearth in geographical literature on the institutional dynamics of solid waste management. Viewed as structures and processes, institutions demonstrate potentials to determine the intentions and actions of urban waste managers and urban dwellers, within the waste management spectrum. Taking the case of Bamenda – a primate city par excellence – this paper explores the dynamics of institutions and their implications for solid waste management. Specifically, it explores the waste management institutional transition and its bearing on current and potentially, future waste management practices. Household surveys, complemented by expert interviews provided data for the study. Through narratives and descriptive statistics, we observed that despite the litany of institutions involved in solid waste management and their related institutional frameworks, their effectiveness remains questionable. This rests, in part, on the inadequacy in personnel, and the lack of law enforcement in the courts and city judiciary systems. The ineffectiveness of these instruments in the Bamenda Municipality is as a result of weak legal institutional setup, the absence of courts and a city judiciary system to handle environmental issues (solid waste), irregular or poorly enforced laws, inaccessible neighbourhood, and organizational lapses. Furthermore, the socio-political climate, characterised by insecurity, mars the effective implementation of waste management approaches. This paper argues that the institutional change process in waste management should strive towards the introduction of economic incentives that can motivate urban dwellers to fully engage in the process. Further empirical evidence on the right business-oriented waste management models are required to ground this claim.

City governments, the world over, are grappling with the problem of sustaining water supply to their rapidly growing population. The need to meet up with this exigency has been emphasized in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 (Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all) and SDG 11 (Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable). While a series of demand and supply-side approaches to water management have been employed, the extent to which water management practices could guarantee (un)sustainability still require clarity, especially in the context of cities in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Taking the case of the Bamenda Metropolis of Cameroon, we contribute to address this lacunae, by identifying household level water management practices in Bamenda, and discussing the implications it has for sustainable water supply (availability, affordability). To obtain relevant data for this study, a random sample of 120 households, within 8 neighborhoods of Bamenda, was conducted. Furthermore, we employed descriptive and inferential statistical methods to test the relationship between household socio-economic characteristics and water management (consumption, rationing, preservation). The results  reveal the following: In terms of regularity, approximately 63% of the households have irregular water supply, and consume less than 50 litres of water per day. The key water source is pipe borne water (65%), supplied by CAMWATER and Community Water Systems. One of the main water management practice at household level is rainwater harvesting (41.7%), while sustainability is compromised by the weak management systems from supply side, and limited knowledge and resources at the demand side (household level). There is a need for policy (re)orientation to regulate household water distribution, consumption and affordability. Further studies are required to ground this assertion.