Trends in bushmeat trade in a postconflict forest town: implications for food security

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Food insecurity and malnutrition can be major, yet often overlooked, consequences of armed conflicts because of the disruption of rural-urban trade networks and human migration toward safe urban centers. Bushmeat has been shown to act as an important safety net for conflict-affected urban populations, contributing the provisioning of basic needs and postconflict peace building efforts. However, the widely documented unsustainability of bushmeat hunting questions whether reliance of an urban population on bushmeat can be sustained for prolonged periods. To assess the potential contribution of bushmeat to sustainable food systems and peace building processes in a postconflict setting in the Democratic Republic of Congo, we use bushmeat trade data from the Kisangani market collected during three annual surveys in 2002, 2008/2009, and 2015/2016. Overall, we found a decreasing supply of bushmeat that, combined with an increasing human population size, limited the contribution of bushmeat to food security. Although bushmeat was the cheapest source of animal protein available in 2002, substitutes became more affordable over time, thereby reducing the need for bushmeat, especially among the urban poor. Finally, assessing the sustainability of bushmeat supply showed an ambiguous pattern depending on the indicator used, which may have been influenced by changes in the geographical trade routes, possibly mediating negative effects of local resource depletion on urban bushmeat supplies. This study provides insights into the contribution and the sustainability of bushmeat to urban postconflict food security. At the same time we also highlight the need for improved understanding of temporal supply/trade trajectories and especially the interaction between the sustainability of bushmeat harvest and the availability of affordable substitutes for ensuring sustainable food systems in support of peace building processes.

Bushmeat hunting around Lomami National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo

“…We documented a total of 18 species in Kindu. Greater numbers were reported from Kisangani and Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo (24 and 35 species, respectively; Mbete et al, 2011; van Vliet et al, 2017). Some authors have argued that with higher anthropogenic pressures, fewer large-bodied animals but a higher number of species are sold at markets (Cowlishaw et al, 2005; Fa, 2007).…”

Does Productivity in the Formal Food Sector Drive Human Ebola Virus Infections in Sub‐Saharan Africa?

“…Our inquiry is, apparently, a first attempt at providing an explicit economic‐theoretic mechanism to evaluate EV transmission for sub‐Saharan Africa in general—variation in formal food sector productivity that changes relative prices. As such, our findings can inform not just the importance of formal food sector productivity and bushmeat production for food security (Van Vliet et al , ), but the importance of food security and relative bushmeat prices for the transmission of zoonotic disease in sub‐Saharan Africa in general.…”

Toward a sustainable, participatory and inclusive wild meat sector

“…This is particularly likely to happen in newly urbanized areas, where urban populations still retain the skills necessary for rural harvesting. Human populations that are displaced by conflict often become reliant on wild meat due to the loss of their normal sources of food and income, and an absence of alternatives (de Merode and Cowlishaw, 2006;Loucks et al 2009;Nackoney et al 2014;Takamura, 2015;van Vliet et al 2017bvan Vliet et al , 2018. For instance, a sizable illegal wild meat trade has emerged in Tanzania owing to the influx of refugees from neighboring Burundi, DRC and Rwanda; other sources of protein are scarce in the refugee camps (Jambiya et al 2007).…”