Study of Clay Materials from Northern Cameroon: Application in the Habitat of Sahelian Areas

Book excerpt: In its diversity of culture and landscape, stands the dense archipelago of plains, savannas and wooded steppes of the northern part of Cameroon. This part of Cameroon dominated by its flat landscapes, its ferralitic soil, somewhat ferruginous and very exactly clay; is subject to extremely high temperatures, since it is an integral part of the Sahel zone. The question of suitable housing for a Sudano-Sahelian climate is therefore not a new concept in this part of Cameroon. Traditional and ancestral construction techniques using the clay material sometimes associated with crushed straw, or even with cement used as a binder, still exist today. It is therefore not uncommon to find in slightly more remote localities (here assimilated to villages, districts and districts), constructions made entirely of rubble (we are referring here to the city of Mokolo and its surroundings, in the department from Mayo-Tsanaga to Far North Cameroon), and also from terracotta bricks (much more on the side of Yagoua and its surroundings, in the department of Mayo-Danay in Far North Cameroon). Still in Far North Cameroon on the Logone et Chari side, the construction of the shell houses of the Mousgoum people dominate the architectural landscape. Going up in North Cameroon on the side of Garoua in the locality of Pitoa, Djalingo, Boulgou, Tinguelin and Badebroun including all the other surrounding localities, soil morphology, architectural landscape and all other geotechnical parameters of soil characterization remain the same; the use of the material “earth” in particular the cooked and compressed brick predominates the habitats. In most cases, the soils are 90% sandy and clayey in nature; this is what the relevant results obtained from years of research tell us.