Abstract: Women trans-border traders along the Mamfe-Ekok-Ikom corridor have been ostensibly constraint despite the numerous trading opportunities offered by the natural and human milieu. A few scholars have examined trade in this corridor; paying less attention to the enormous barriers that undermined the efforts of women trans-border traders. It is in this regard that this paper explores the social, economic and politico-strategic constraints faced by women trans-border traders thereof. The paper opines that the intermittent decline in women’s trading activities in the said corridor can be attributed to the constraints discussed. The study has made ample use of primary sources- oral interviews using interview guides, theses and dissertations; and secondary sources- published books, journals and the internet. It adopts the historical mode, largely qualitative analysis, presented in a thematic manner. The findings reveal that women involved in the Cameroon-Nigeria trans-border trade within the Mamfe-Ekok-Ikom corridor were hindered by socio-economic and politico-strategic constraints, which contributed to sporadic decline in female trade and the overall trade along the corridor in general. Women were however the most affected because they were vulnerable to risks and other conditions that limited their efforts, participation and profits. Based on these findings, the paper concludes that women trans-border traders are a key resource that need to be encouraged by eliminating the constraints they faced. Gender-based trade policies would certainly facilitate female trade in the said corridor and enable the attainment of full trade potentials by Cameroon and Nigeria in particular and Africa in general.
Keywords: Women, Constraints, Trans-border Trade, Mamfe-Ekok-Ikom Corridor.
Title: THE CONSTRAINTS OF WOMEN TRANS-BORDER TRADERS WITHIN THE CAMEROON-NIGERIA MAMFE-EKOK-IKOM CORRIDOR, 1988-2016
Author: Tabi James Ndip, Canute A Ngwa, Takor Nixon Kahjum
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
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