Restructuring of the Cameroon Development Corporation, Challenges and Coping Strategies of Plantation Workers in Fako Division, South West Region, Cameroon

Abstract

Industrial restructuring that took place in most developing countries after the mid-1980s failed to take into consideration the working and living conditions of workers, since multinational companies that bought over state owned enterprises focused more on profit maximization at the detriment of workers welfare. This study explores the challenges and coping strategies of workers of the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) in the context of neoliberal restructuring masterminded by the Bretton Wood Institutions. The researcher employed a qualitative phenomenological research design with purposeful sampling of participants. Data collection entailed conducting in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with 120 male and female workers drawn from four CDC camps in Fako Division. The study affirms that the restructuring of the CDC had negative consequences on the living and working conditions of workers. In a bid to salvage the situation workers had to reduce their expenditure and diversify their sources of income. The coping strategies that were employed by workers to curb the negative effects of these restructuring failed to ameliorate their living conditions, though little has been done by the CDC, CTE and Delmonte to ameliorate their situation, despite huge sacrifices they have made to restore the CDC to its past glory.