Water resources in northern Cameroon have
continuously been reducing over the past years. Many
studies have suggested two principal causes: (1) human
activities such as poor farming practices, unsustainable use
of water resources, increased demand of water, deforestation,
land-use change, etc., (2) human-induced climate
change. Northern Cameroon in this study includes: the
Adamawa, North and Far North regions located closer to
the Sahel regions of Africa. These regions are already
water stressed because of their location and any further
change in climate with rising temperature would impact
water resource either positively or negatively. Time series
analysis and a 12-month standardized precipitation index
(SPI12) with digital data between 1957 and 2006 were used
to investigate the variation of water resources in northern
Cameroon. Results obtained varies between the different
regions with an increased annual trend in temperature and
precipitation for Ngaoundere (Adamawa region) and Garoua
(north region), whereas Maroua (far north region) had
a decreased annual trend in both precipitation and temperature.
Further variability results obtained from a SPI12
show that wetter period out number drought period in all
three regions. The study concluded that water resources
vary with the changing climatic condition and the severity
of the impact varies from region to region. Furthermore,
water deficiency in northern Cameroon might not be due to
climate change. The reasons might be a combination of
poor water management and other factors such population
growth, the environmental condition, etc.