Adequate housing and violence in cameroon

Violence has profound consequences on the economic and social wellbeing of households (World Bank 2009). Widespread violence can consequently have a damaging impact on the economic growth of a country. The root cause(s) of violence therefore need to be clearly identified and addressed since this would cost much less than repairing the often devastating damage that violence inflicts on individuals and communities. A significant increase in violence has been witnessed in Cameroon since 1990, with the most recent case of widespread violence being the February 2008 crisis. In February 2008 and in other instances of violence, social inequalities have been a general cause. Although these inequalities are particularly visible in disparities in housing situations and generally between neighborhoods, no research has been conducted on housing and violence in Cameroon. A purposive sample of 1,464 respondents from five regions confirmed that most people live in poor housing. Chi-square statistic with descriptive frequency tables, used for data analysis on the relationship between poor housing and violence showed that inadequate housing was a factor which forces many people to indulge in acts of violence and that a multi-sector approach to housing, with the government playing a major role is needed to reduce the ‘housing gap’ in Cameroon. The major finding from this study is that significant improvement in the housing conditions of most Cameroonians will help prevent violence in the country.