In 1999 (August 30 - September 2) the Pan African Anthropological
Association (PAAA) marked the 10th anniversary of its creation by
holding its 9th Annual Conference in Yaounde, Cameroon - the city and
country of its birth. The conference, themed "The Anthropology of
Africa: Challenges for the 21st Century", was attended by some seventy
participants, mostly African. Among the international participants was
Dr Sydel Silverman, President of the Wenner Gren Foundation at the
time - a long term partner of the PAAA; she was present at the inaugural
conference in 1988. The conference proceedings were initially published
in 2000 with very limited circulation. Given the continued relevance of
the papers presented, and in view of the call by the President of the
PAAA for African anthropologists to reunite anthropological theory and
practice in the teaching programmes of African universities, the PAAA is
pleased to republish the proceedings of its landmark 9th Annual
Conference. The book consists of forty three divided into eight parts,
namely: i) teaching anthropology in the decades ahead; ii) Health
Challenges: HIV/AIDS Anthropological Perspectives; iii) NGOS: Use and
Misuse of Anthropology; iv) Anthropological Focus on Environment; v)
Some Applied Issues in Anthropology; vi) The African Family in Crisis;
vii) Ethnicity and Ethnic Conflicts; and viii) Population issues and
anthropology: Fertility Crisis. Paul Nkwi concludes his introduction to
the volume with these words: "The Anthropology of Africa will remain for
a long time, fundamentally applied if it is to meet the challenges of
the 21st Century."
