Does climate change influence conflicts? Evidence for the Cameroonian regions

The objective of this article is to analyze the influence of climate change on the occurrence of conflicts in the crisis regions of Cameroon. To achieve this, we use the two-way fixed effects method on data ranging from 2000 to 2021. The main results show that climate change directly increases conflicts during relatively warm periods and/or with less precipitation. Moreover, through the channel of the marginal effects of food price volatility and deforestation, we show that climate change indirectly influences conflicts. Thus, in order to reduce the risk of conflict in Cameroon, it is recommended that measures be put in place to mitigate or adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. Specifically, we recommend the protection of the forest, through the fight against deforestation in humid regions, and the promotion of reforestation in arid areas. Furthermore, we propose to stabilize food prices at the local level in the short and long term, in order to cope with price fluctuations at the global market level. In the short term, we propose a storage mechanism for various foodstuffs during periods of low prices, and in the long term, we propose a structural transformation of the Cameroonian economy, through the acceleration of the process of import substitution or local production as foreseen by the National Development Strategy of Cameroon (NDS30).