Forced From Their Forests, Cameroon’s Female Pygmies Bear Brunt Of Alcohol Abuse
The Baka Pygmies of Eastern Cameroon know all too well how development projects can be used to destroy the livelihoods, homes and cultures. The nomadic-hunter gatherers have been pushed off their ancestral lands by mining and logging companies, as well as by conservation groups trying to save elephants and gorillas. Pushed into the territories of forest-dwelling ethnic groups, the result has been further conflict and a turn to alcohol as a way to deal with the myriad of problems facing them. Baku women are bearing the greatest brunt of the growing alcoholism, often facing brutal violence from their husbands and other male members of the community, in addition to the stress of having to find food and generate income. Photo credit: Josiane Kougheu/Thomson Reuters
