Cameroon: Methodology
Data collection
Data collection from the field was organised around a 78-questions survey form covering a wide range of transparency-related issues and combining open and closed questions. The objective was to check the availability and accessibility of information relating to those questions, as well as the relevance of their content.
Four NGOs were selected to take part in the collection of field data. They submitted the questionnaire to communities in four of the country's regions (the South, the East, the Centre and the South-west). In 2009 only the South and the East were covered. The additional regions were chosen so as to reflect the variety of forested areas in Cameroon. The selected NGOs and consultants underwent training in order to be acquainted with the questionnaire and the spirit of research. Consultants´ role was to provide guidance to NGOs by translating questions into simple expressions a clear formulation easy to understand.
The fieldwork data collection took three months and was based on two main complementary approaches: the interview and workshop-oriented methods. A strong reason for the need for fieldwork can be seen in the indicator on social obligations (Cahier des Charges) being public. In the 2009 survey this was recorded as 'yes', as the law states Cahier des Charges is annexed to the concession contract and forest management plan, but deeper community-level assessments in 2010 reveal that since local populations do not have access to these documents, their rights are often violated by logging companies who simply ignore their legal social duties.
The interview-led approach was used by two NGOs in the Centre and South regions (Djoum, Campo, Ma´an, Kribi and Yaoundé). This method was based on the rationale that key informants selected amongst communities, local and central administration are likely to provide an array of information easily falsifiable. In total, about 50 respondents were interviewed (mayors, village chiefs, representatives of forest user groups, forest agents, youth, women, indigenous people...) and each of the 70 questions was asked to more than three interviewees to guarantee the reliability of answers. Desk research on internet was carried out to complement and further cross-check answers to questions.
The workshop-oriented data collection method was mainly used by other two counterparts NGOs in East and South-west regions. Meetings were respectively held in Yokadouma and Kumba and attended by participants coming all over the region. Overall, three workshops were convened with an average turnover of 40 participants from various affiliations (vulnerable groups, forest administration, NGO representatives, local elites...). During meetings, each question was debated and answered. Further explanations were provided in case contradictory or different answers were given for the same question.
Each of the four NGOs involved in the data collection process produced a comprehensive filled out questionnaire with was confronted against each other to generate a synthetic one. It proceeded as follows: For each question, answers provided by all four NGOs were put together. It appeared that most answers were either identical or complementary in the four regions and merely contradictory. In the last case, inter-region variations were investigated and elucidated. This data analysis phase aimed at highlighting the survey's key results, including those with a major impact on transparency in the context of Cameroon.
The methodology used for data collection proved to be an effective tool, simple to use by NGOs with little input from consultants. However, it is limited in scope based on qualitative assessment of the availability and accessibility of information. It fails to present descriptive statistics and percentage of respondents associated to the categories of answers provided for each question. The investigation relies mainly on the respondents´ answers which are perceptions, and can therefore differ from realities.
