In the past, the villagers heavily relied on coffee farming and logging for their livelihood. However, those two sectors ended their operations 1980s, making Lidjombo declared a "dead town."[2][3]
Etymology
The name of the village originated from a name of fish, Jombo, that was ubiquitous across Sangha River when the village was established.[4]
History
Some people who did not like to work at the coffee plantation in Mompagana moved from the village and founded a settlement named Lidjombo in 1919.[4] In the mid-1920s, Santini and Lopez built coffee plantations in the village, drawing many Mpiemu, Gbaya, and Baka to dwell in the village.[5][6]
Around the mid-50s, Lidjombo faced a coffee boom and it attracted many people to migrate to the village because of the good salary.[6][7] However, the coffee production ceased operation in 1981 after the owner left the village. As a result, the coffee farm is covered by vines.[8][2] Nevertheless, as of 1988, the former coffee plantation workers remained in Lidjombo.[9]
In April 2013, Front pour la Libération et l'Indépendance de la Sangha-Mbaéré (FLISM) controlled Lidjombo.[10]
Demography
Lidjombo is a multi-ethnic settlement. Various ethnic groups, which are Sangha Sangha, Mpiemo, Mbaya, Kaké, Manja, Gbaka, Banda, Bossa-Goma, and Baka people inhabit the village.[4]
Economy
The villagers depend on several sectors for their livelihood, such as farming, hunting, gathering, distilling local alcohol, and commerce.[4]
The village's security is served by a police post and a national Gendarme Brigade office.[4]
Transport
In 1976 a logging company, Slovenia-Bois, built a road connecting the Lidjombo to the rest of the country, thus freeing the village from isolation.[12]
^ abGiles-Vernick, Tamara (2000). "Doli: Translating an African Environmental History of Loss in the Sangha River Basin of Equatorial Africa". The Journal of African History. 41 (3): 384. doi:10.1017/S0021853700007702. S2CID143691556.
^ abcdefChe, Victorine S. (2008). "4". A Critical Analysis of the Interrelation between Indigenous Livelihoods and Sustainable Forest Management - Integrating Gender Aspects. Case of the Sangha Trinational Conservation Area (Thesis). Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg. p. 92.
^Giles-Vernick, Tamara (1999). "Leaving a Person behind: History, Personhood, and Struggles over Forest Resources in the Sangha Basin of Equatorial Africa". The International Journal of African Historical Studies. 32 (2/3): 326. doi:10.2307/220344. JSTOR220344.
^Giles-Vernick, Tamara (2002). Cutting the Vines of the Past Environmental Histories of the Central African Rain Forest. Charlottesville and London: The University Press of Virginia. p. 137.