ABSTRACT
Introduction From the early days of their tenure in Southern Cameroon, British colonial authorities were convinced that economic growth and development in the grasslands of Bamenda hinged essentially on the application of modern scientific methods of cattle keeping; and that cattle, which numbered approximately 160,000 head by 1951, should be the economic backbone of the region and under the stewardship of the Fulani. This constituted, in a nutshell, the British colonial administration’s pro-cattle policy. Thus, during the first three decades of their tenure up to 1950, they promoted a cattle economy and paid lip service to agriculture and other economic initiatives that would have benefited indigenous farming communities, which made up more than 90 percent of the population of the region.
