Cultural Ecology

Woman selling bushmeat. Photo credit: BBC

Drawing on cultural ecology helps in understanding both the history of the Congolese modes of subsistence and the causal effects of the practice of bushmeat consumption on the number of Ebola epidemics in the Congo. A focal point of cultural ecology, specifically the within the ideas of Julian Steward, is the concept of a culture core: the cultural practices of a group that are most tightly-wound with the group's mode of subsistence. While the culture core does not fully capture the complexity of rural Congolese human-environmental interactions, it provides a good starting point as to how this relationship has developed over time.

Man hunting bushmeat in Central
Africa. Photo credit: World Wide
Fund for Nature

Countless groups throughout the world, including the Congolese, are documented as having consumed bushmeat at some point in their histories. Bushmeat is "non-domesticated" meat that comes from wild animals; in the Congo, this could include forest mammals, reptiles, and birds. Trends of the Congo's total bushmeat consumption show a notable increase over the last twenty years. In the late 1990s, the total consumption of bushmeat in the Congo Basin Forest reached approximately 1.3 million tons annually (Wilkie and Carpenter 1999, 930). Recent estimates suggest that the total amount of bushmeat consumed in the Congo Basin today could be more than 3.4 million tons annually (Karesh and Noble 2009, 430).

One reason for this intensified popularity of rural bushmeat consumption is that more domestic forms of protein, such as beef or pork, tend to be more expensive by twofold or more (Fa, Currie, and Meeuwig 2003, 71). These prices and a lack of suitable land required for the grazing of domestic animals make bushmeat a more accessible option for the Congo Basin's population. While cultural values about subsistence exist in rural areas, this connection between culture and food seems to play more of a role in urban areas of the Congo. Wealthier urban residents tend to enjoy bushmeat for its exoticism and classify it as a luxury item of cultural significance (Wilkie and Carpenter 1999, 940). Another evidenced driver for bushmeat consumption is the escalation of commercial logging. Logging creates more demand for bushmeat by bringing in large amounts of logging workers with low wages and also by establishing more points of entry for hunting areas in areas that were once too densely forested to be accessible (Karesh and Noble 2009, 430-431).

Logging industry in the Congo Basin.
Photo credit: Fritz Kleinschroth

While bushmeat consumption alone is not a significant cause for alarm, it is worth looking at how the practice has fared in the face of deforestation. Has a loss of habitat pushed more species known to carry the Ebola virus into native hunting zones? An empirical study was performed from 2001 to 2005 where it was discovered that three species of fruit bats were found to be harboring the Ebola virus (Leroy et al. 2005, 575). The bats, along with the species they infect, such as gorillas and chimpanzees, all happen to be types of bushmeat that the indigenous Congolese populations regularly consume (Leroy et al. 2005, 575). A large percentage of bushmeat hunting occurs close to the border of the Congo Basin forest which has decreased in length due to deforestation. Another study found gorilla, chimpanzee, and duiker carcasses in the border region which tested positive for the Ebola virus (Rouquet et al. 2005, 286). Upon finding a carcass, researchers were able to issue a report of a possible Ebola threat to healthcare workers to earlier (Rouquet et al. 2005, 289). In theory, this would mean the disease would be isolated earlier before becoming a human outbreak, but, due to a lack of immediate response, outbreaks still occurred. The possibility of implementing a more intertwined relationship between those monitoring the animal and human healthcare workers which fosters a better sense of communication could allow the Congo to navigate its current Ebola crisis and future outbreaks (Rouquet et al. 2005, 289). Cultural practices, such as eating bushmeat, are not going to disappear anytime in the foreseeable future; this means that responding to and informing indigenous Congolese about reducing their risk of contracting Ebola may be more effective than restricting bushmeat consumption altogether.

Sources: https://ebolainthecongo.blogspot.com/2019/03/bibliography.html