Author(s)

Kasereka Vitekere^1,2,3*, Consolate Kaswera Kyamakya^3,4, Jonas Kambale Nyumu^2,3, Yan Hua⁵

¹Faculty of Sciences, Department of Environment and Climate Change Management, University of Goma, Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo.
²Research Center for Environmental Planning, Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo.
³Faculty of Sciences of the University of Kisangani, Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo.
⁴Centre de Surveillance de la Biodiversité, Faculty of Sciences, University of Kisangani, Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo.
⁵Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Silviculture, Protection and Utilization, Guangdong Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou, China.

Many forest households closely depend on wildlife resources and their current exploitation does not guarantee sustainable management. A huge quantity of bushmeat is transferred from hunting areas to the Kisangani market for commercial purposes. It is useful to know how this activity is conducted and who the actors are. Actors (42 hunters and 13 wholesalers) were interviewed, and focus groups were done. Regular visits to 22 hunters throughout a two-month period were done, for data collection. Two hypotheses were brought out: 1) actors in this supply chain do not know national legislation about protected species and are only illiterates; 2) the supply chain is a simple transaction between hunters and sellers. Findings revealed that actors within the bushmeat supply chain have diversified profiles according to age and education level, which was widely varied: illiterate, primary-secondary school and university and have a good level of knowledge about national legislation on protected species. The commercial circuit is complex and has many directions. Wholesalers have a major role in this supply chain. Their transactions are the most important according to both frequency and financial profitability. Hunters and wholesalers have associations that do not definitively establish regulations within the supply chain. Financial profitability is the primary reason that leads hunters to sell their game. The results demonstrate (by Student’s t-test) that hunting activities have a negative effect on animal diversity. Efforts should be undertaken to attain the strict respect for law that will make this activity more sustainable.

Actors, Bushmeat, Hunters, Wholesalers, Sustainable Hunting, Democratic Republic of Congo

Vitekere, K., Kyamakya, C.K., Nyumu, J.K. and Hua, Y. (2021) Bushmeat Commercial Circuit in Kisangani Region: First and Second Levels of the Bushmeat Supply Chain, on Ituri Road, DRC. Open Access Library Journal, 8, 1-20. doi: 10.4236/oalib.1107988.