BAMENDA COFFEE FARMERS AND THE UNFULFILLED EXPECTATIONS OF UNIFICATION, 1961 ? 1971: A DECADE OF DISAPPOINTMENT

It is fifty three years since West Cameroon achieved its independence through reunification. An appraisal of the journey so far taken has been biased in favour of political issues. How the peasant farmers have fared in a reunified Cameroon remains a neglected theme. This paper examines the economic position of coffee farmers in Bamenda for the first ten years of reunification and independence. Based on archival sources and oral evidence, the paper concludes that the expectations of the Bamenda coffee farmers remained unfulfilled in a reunified Cameroon during this period.