article · International Social Science Journal
Research on conflict predominantly concentrates on internally displaced persons and refugees, often overlooking the experiences of host communities and families. An evaluation of the neglected Anglophone conflict in Cameroon examines changes in sustainable livelihood capitals across dormant, active, and de-escalating phases of conflict. Both displaced individuals and host families experienced substantial declines across multiple livelihood assets. Specifically, both groups suffered notable reductions in financial capital through lower income, physical capital through diminished land access, natural capital through restricted drinking water availability, and social capital through reduced network participation. Conversely, human capital, measured by school attendance, proved to be an exception without similar declines. These findings indicate that aid initiatives must broaden their scope beyond displaced populations to support host households who endure comparable livelihood shocks.
When conflict displaces populations, host families absorb substantial burdens that frequently go unnoticed by external agencies. Demonstrating that host households suffer equivalent losses in income, land, water, and community networks highlights the need for balanced assistance. Including host families in emergency relief programmes helps protect the broader community from economic collapse and social exhaustion during protracted crises.
The abstract does not indicate an application pathway.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
ABSTRACT Conflict studies disproportionately focus on internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees, largely side‐lining host community and family dynamics in neglected conflict contexts. We use the sustainable livelihoods capital portfolios to compare changes among IDPs and host families (HFs) of the neglected Anglophone conflict in Cameroon. Analysing pseudo‐panel data generated through mixed methods approach for the dormant, active and deescalating conflict phases show significant drops in financial (income), physical (access to land), natural (access to drinking water) and social capitals (membership in networks) for both IDPs and HFs across study periods. The only exception was human capital (school attendance). On the basis of these results, we conclude that humanitarian and other relief actions should target both IDPs and HFs. Our study adds to the limited literature on the effects of neglected conflicts on IDPs and HFs.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.1111/issj.70064
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
