This booklet presents the synthesis of the project “Local knowledge and local action in the Mandara mountains, North Cameroon”. The project encompassed the studies of one Dutch and two Cameroonian PhD researchers, which were carried out from 1994-1998. The project was co-funded by the Netherlands Israel Development Research Programme (NIRP), while fellowships from WOTRO (the Netherlands) and the French government were granted for the work of Zuiderwijk and Hiol Hiol, respectively. What is presented here as the project results refers to all the activities of the researchers, irrespective of their funding source. The emphasis is, however, on policy-relevant issues.

NIRP aims to encourage development-related research focused on socioeconomic and cultural change. Being policy-oriented in nature, NIRP aims to make the results of research accessible to anyone interested in solving the problems investigated. The target groups for such knowledge include policy makers, representatives of non-governmental and donor organisations and the scientific community. With this aim in mind, the Publication Board has launched the NIRP Research for Policy Series as a channel for the publication of “user-friendly” summaries of more than 30 scientific reports.