Beyond Crop Raids: Socio-Ecological Resilience and Hidden Costs of Human-Monkey Conflict In Vervets around Mount Galim-Tignère, Cameroon

Around Mount Galim in Cameroon and in 113 households, this study on human-vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) conflict investigated methods of protection against raids as well farmers’ perceptions and food security. The results reveal, first, that raids caused 88, 261 USD in annual losses, or an average of 39.0% of agricultural products looted by monkeys in each of five villages concerned. Among the six protection methods, five crackers were the most popular, with 1.58 firecrackers/household/24 h used, even though this strategy is perceived as moderately ineffective and costly (122, 90/year/h/week). Secondly, farmers ‘perceptions were dichotomous, with 42.5% negative and 42.5% positive responses, showing no correlation with the duration of the conflict. Thirdly, no households are exposed to food insecurity despite significant agricultural losses. In reality, 49.8% and 58.2% of households derive their livelihood from livestock farming and trade respectively, with agriculture as means of subsistence accounting for only 49.8% of households, which probably explains the surprising socio-ecological resilience observed. The diversity of livelihoods has had a cushioning effect inhibiting the direct collapse of the local food system. In order to ensure sustainable coexistence, an integrated management frank calls for strengthening livelihood diversification, implementing alternative technics to mitigate raids, and, above all, prioritizing early warning systems.