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Water Resources Management and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in Cameroon

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Abstract

Cameroon is blessed with abundant water resources. Rapid population increase, unplanned urbanisation, intensive industrial and socio-economic development have led to poor and unsustainable management of these resources. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is a promising approach in ensuring sustainable management of Cameroon’s water resources. It entails management of water for various purposes and not for a single purpose which therefore involves different stake holders aiming at achieving sustainable water resources management. This paper seeks to evaluate recent efforts to implement in IWRM in Cameroon by examining the institutional framework for IWRM in Cameroon, conditions for the implementation of IWRM and proposes reforms for improving IWRM in Cameroon. The paper concludes that reforms such as public participation at local council levels, recognition of water as both an economic and a social good, putting IWRM within the larger context of Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) and the exploitation of mathematical models within hydrological basins will improve IWRM in Cameroon.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Science and Technology, Isotope Hydrology Laboratory, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan

    Andrew Ako Ako

  2. Hydrological Research Centre Yaoundé-Cameroon, P.O. Box 4110, Yaoundé, Cameroon

    Andrew Ako Ako & Gloria Eneke Takem Eyong

  3. National Advanced School of Public Works Yaoundé-Cameroon, P.O. Box 510, Yaoundé, Cameroon

    George Elambo Nkeng

Authors
  1. Andrew Ako Ako
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  2. Gloria Eneke Takem Eyong
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  3. George Elambo Nkeng
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Correspondence to Andrew Ako Ako.

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Ako, A.A., Eyong, G.E.T. & Nkeng, G.E. Water Resources Management and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in Cameroon. Water Resour Manage 24, 871–888 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-009-9476-4

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