The Political Economy of Social Protection in Cameroon: State and Non-State Approaches

In many Low-Middle Income Countries, social protection policies are increasingly used as integral parts of development strategies to combat poverty and inequality. This study contributes to the effectiveness of social protection interventions by exploring unstudied social protection schemes and demonstrating how state and non-state approaches shape the production and distribution of social protection resources in Cameroon. Using a constructivist epistemology, the study traces the historical and institutional development of social protection and situates it within Cameroon’s development context and global debates on social protection. The study is based on the underlying concepts of risk and vulnerability, and the World Bank’s SRM framework and uses a qualitative-based and indigenous approach to generate findings. First, findings suggest that there is a proliferation of both state and non-state interventions that typically provide adhoc and patchwork assistance and resources to beneficiaries. These resources support individuals to manage basic risks and shocks within households but have limited coverage. Second, the study demonstrated that both political and bureaucratic stakeholders are crucial for the development of a viable social protection system in Cameroon. Bureaucratic stakeholders possess indepth knowledge about the structural and institutional challenges to delivering social protection resources, whilst political stakeholders outline technical and structural difficulties to delivering social protection including problems conceptualising risk and vulnerability. Third, the study challenges the premise of the World Bank’s SRM framework which reinforces the role of the state as the main social protection provider by arguing that informal social protection interventions, such as BAMCULA and SN CHAUTAC, are equally crucial in alleviating poverty and inequality. Finally, the study contributes to the methodological advancement of social protection research especially in African settings, by proposing the incorporation of indigenous methods and highlighting that policymakers must have a clear vision and coherent principles regarding social protection.