At the opposite of numerous countries in the world, despite its natural assets and its
enormous surface and underground water potential, Cameroon is still trying to put down effective
policies for the supply of safe drinking water for its rural population. Many initiatives to supply these
communities through a national water distribution network have remained for the most dead letters or
fruitless. A very high number of people still endanger their life daily by relying on archaic water
supply techniques – when they are working – and by consuming unsafe water.
This study therefore investigates if fog and rainwater harvesting could help in securing safe
drinking water to these same rural communities, leaving the remaining demand - if any - to be
provided by the existing but too often non-reliable supply system. Two pilot sites have been selected
for their different climatic conditions; a village in the mountainous Western Province and another in
the low-lying area of the Far-North Province of Cameroon. Average climatic data and basic
topographical information from each location were used to determine the size and number of required
collectors. The potential monthly water-yield at each site was then assessed using an actual climatic
data series (8 years) and the theoretical performance simulated based on an increasing per capita daily
consumption (10 – 40 l.d-1). An estimate of implementation cost is provided as part of the discussion
on the feasibility of using both fog and rainwater harvesting as low-cost approaches to securing safe
drinking water in Cameroon.