Resettlement preferences from landslide prone areas in Cameroon

Information about resettlement preferences is an important prerequisite for the success of voluntary resettlement as a disaster risk reduction strategy. Yet, even in conditions where individual preferences for resettlement are met, resettlement programs may fail. In this study, we confront individual preferences for resettlement with obstacles to resettlement in order to identify conditions for success and failure of voluntary resettlement. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups discussions are combined with a structured household survey and a discrete choice experiment to elicit individual resettlement preferences among farmers living in the landslide-prone Bamboutos caldera, in Cameroon. A mixed logit model and a latent class model are used to assess resettlement preferences and to investigate differences in preferences between socioeconomic groups. We find that, in general, people are willing to resettle away from landslide prone areas to safer areas, but that preferences for resettlement conditions vary between socioeconomic groups. Wealthier households show a greater willingness to resettle, especially to locations with improved road infrastructure, while poorer respondents are less willing to resettle, especially when this can negatively affect their social network. Beyond individual preferences, resettlement strongly depends on group behavior, historical events and trust in institutions. The stumbling blocks in the Bamboutos caldera include border disputes at the resettlement location, the high cost of resettlement and administrative challenges. With this case study, we demonstrate the added value of complementing a discrete choice experiment with qualitative research, as it leads to an integrated view of the resettlement situation of the affected population.