Roofing in Cameroon

Cameroon stretches from the Lake Chad basin in the north, through savanna and the volcanic Western Highlands, to equatorial rainforest and a humid Atlantic coast. Its traditional roofs are among the most varied in Africa: the tall, self-supporting earthen domes of the Musgum on the Logone floodplain, the clay compounds of the Kotoko towns, the high conical thatched roofs of the Bamileke chiefdoms in the West Region, and the leaf domes (móngulu) of Baka forest camps in the south-east. Across the country, concrete bricks and corrugated iron have replaced many older housing forms.

Climate and hazards

The south and coast are hot, wet and humid for most of the year, which favours steep, fast-draining roofs and rots organic materials. The Western Highlands are cooler and rainy. The north is semi-arid, with a single short rainy season, intense sun and seasonal floods; Musgum domes had a small top opening that could serve as an escape hatch in floods. Termites and fire threaten thatch everywhere.

Roofing history

The deepest documented roofing traditions are those of the north and the Grassfields. At Bandjoun, the chiefdom's great hut is attributed by tradition to King Notouom I about four centuries ago and has been restored regularly since; its oldest central pillars have survived three fires. In the far north, Kotoko city-states such as Logone-Birni built in clay by accretion, adding new enclosures around older ones and sharing walls between related households. The Musgum built their earthen domes, tall shells of compressed mud, until cement and metal sheet made them seem outdated in the 20th century; very few are now built, though renewed interest has led to some new construction.

In the 20th century cement and corrugated iron came into use, and even heritage buildings changed: the great hut at Bandjoun lost its original thatch to corrugated iron, though its interior remains intact.

Traditional and vernacular roofs

• Musgum tolek (Far North Region): a conical or beehive dome of sun-dried mud, nearly 9 m (30 ft) tall, built in coils without formwork, with raised ribs that serve as footholds and drain rain. See Musgum tolek.
• Bamileke and Grassfields house (West and North-West regions): a square or rectangular building with walls of prefabricated panels, traditionally of raffia palm frond spines or bamboo bound with fibre, under a high conical thatched roof. In chiefdoms the conical roofs carry symbolic meaning, and the number of peaks on a notable's roof reflects rank. See Bamileke conical roof.
• Kotoko clay compounds (Logone-Birni and other towns): clay houses and enclosures built around one another; at the early Kotoko town of Houlouf, houses were rectangular mud-brick buildings with flat roofs set in walled compounds.
• Baka móngulu (south-eastern rainforest): a hemispherical frame of thin branches covered with large Marantaceae leaves, built mainly by women. See Mongulu.

Roofing today

Cameroon's 2018 Demographic and Health Survey (EDS) records the main roof material of each household in categories from thatch and palm leaf, rustic mats, palm or bamboo and wood planks to metal, calamine or cement fibre, ceramic tiles and cement. Across the country, concrete bricks and corrugated iron roofs have replaced many older housing forms. In the rainforest and Grassfields, earth-plastered timber-frame houses (poto-poto) and rectangular mud-brick houses are typically roofed with palm thatch or corrugated iron; in the north, round mud houses are traditionally crowned with thatch. Wealthier urban households build concrete houses, while the poorest live in mud houses under thatch or iron sheet.

Notable roofs

• Bandjoun chiefdom great hut (West Region): about 17 m (56 ft) high, with carved pillars, bamboo facades woven with plant fibre and an attic granary under a conical roof now covered in corrugated iron.
• Musgum domes at Pouss and nearby villages (Far North Region).

Local roofing terms

• tolek (Munjuk, the Musgum language): the domed earthen house; in French case obus ("shell house").
• móngulu (Baka): leaf-domed forest hut.
• poto-poto: earth-plastered timber-frame (wattle-and-daub) house.

Sources and gaps

Household roofing shares from the 2018 DHS and census were not found, so the present-day mix of materials is not quantified. The construction of Kotoko flat roofs (beams and earth layers): published information is limited. National codes, standards and manufacturers were not identified. The spelling teleuk sometimes used for the Musgum house: published information is limited.