An Assessment of Water Sourcing Technologies and Stakeholder Stratagems Applied in the Balikumbat Highland Community of Ndop Plain, Cameroon

Abstract

When a bourgeoning population faces water supply scarcity dilemma, stakeholders and interests emerge to offer multivariate water harvesting systems to affected communities. Stakeholder provision of water resources have deployed varied indigenous and exogenous technologies for domestic uses from natural surface to ground water stores. Community technological prowess and stratagems are functions of relief and climatic traits within a socio-political setting and that is why this paper sets out to assess indigenous and exogenous technologies of stakeholder in community water harvesting systems. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected for water sources, water demands, stakeholders, harvesting systems, technologies of extraction and water management through field observations, questionnaires and interviews. Findings revealed that few inhabitants have exogenous water supply technology and greater proportions depend on low technologies which paradoxically proved to be more sustainable than the high technologies. Stakeholder involvement motifs self-pride and politically driven and so the dearth of village water committees accounting for very derisory participation rates in water sourcing and management. The development and rehabilitation of alternative water sources is vital for sustainable water resource management and not just reliance on technological knowhow in Balikumbat.