SOCIAL VULNERABILITY AND RISK PERCEPTION TO NATURAL HAZARDS IN CAMEROON TWO DECADES AFTER THE LAKE NYOS GAS DISASTER: WHAT FUTURE PROSPECT FOR THE DISPLACED DISASTER VICTIMS?

This paper, seeks to understand through a case study approach social vulnerability and risk perception to natural hazards in Cameroon as a consequence of the Lake Nyos Disaster that occurred in 1986. It is hypothesized that the science-led disaster management nature of the Lake Nyos Disaster that has focused mostly on eliminating the physical risk in the lake have had a serious toll on the lives and livelihood of the disaster survivors. The aim is to unveil the social nature of vulnerability and how risk is viewed based on its perceptions, in order to better appreciate how both risk and vulnerability are affected by disaster management and how they intend influence relocation decisions. This is because though Cameroon is prone to natural hazards, programs for disaster risk management have not established the link between risk, vulnerability and development while risk reduction is still oriented towards technical analyses and structural mitigation measures without any social considerations. The conceptual framework adopts the position that social characteristics that structure people in the society and influence their understanding and interpretation of disasters are determined by the political ecology. The methodological framework adopts a qualitative and quantitative analysis using primary and secondary data. Results show that socioeconomic and demographic factors are responsible for the poverty and low resilience of the survivors thereby making them sociall