Marie Cakupewa - Urban Ethnobotany and Migration African Diaspora Agro Food Forum 2018 25th April 2018 Bouchout Castle, Botanic Garden Meise Belgium

1. The Trade in African medicinal plants by
migrants in Matonge-Ixelles, Brussels
By Marie-Cakupewa Fundiko,
Prof. Dr. T.R. van Andel
•
African Diaspora Agro-Food Forum 2018
Meise BG, 25 april 2018

2. Markets as public places
• “Markets are public spaces in which many kinds of
products are sold, but also places of cultural
exchange.
• Markets are distinctive for each culture or society as
they represent small-scale reproductions of that
region's cultural and biological diversity”
(de Albuquerque et al., 2007).

3. Urban Ethnobotany and Migration
• Migrants maintain their own traditions, beliefs, food and herbal
medicine
– Migrants rely on medicinal plants: low income, no insurance
• Food and medicine strengthen own cultural identity
• Urban ethnobotany of African migrants not well documented
(Pieroni & Vandebroek, 2007), (Vandebroek and Balick, 2012a)
Saba senegalensis
Abelmoschus esculentus

4. Matonge-Ixelles vs Matonge-Kinshasa
Brussels-Ixelles
Matonge-
Ixelles
Belgium
Matonge-Kin.

5. Fresh Matonge fruits (Landolphia owariensis), a popular,
wild-harvested fruit in the DRC, after which the Nighlife
neigboorhood Matonge in Kinshasa and Bruxelles is named.

6. Matonge-Ixelles vs Matonge-Kinshasa
• Matonge is a fruit Landolphia owariensis (Apocynaceae)
• Matonge is a market and meeting place in Kinshasa (DR Congo)
• Matonge-Ixelles an African neighborhood in Brussels
• (27 streets, Congolese migrants)
• Matonge a meeting-at-home place for multicultural communities
• Matonge: the place to study urban ethnobotany of Africans in Europe
Matonge-Porte de
Namur, Bus stop at
Matonge-Ixelles
Matonge -Kinshasa

7. Research questions
• What African species are sold as medicine in Matonge?
• What is the main source of the plants sold?
• What are the most important diseases treated?
• Which ethnicities involved in trade of African plants in Matonge?
• Who buys African medicinal plants in Matonge and why?
• Are most African plants sold at Matonge food medicine?
• Which percentage of commercial Congolese herbal medicine is
available at Matonge?
Landolphia owariensis (Matonge)

8. Hypothesis
• Market is dominated by Congolese traders and clients
• Most herbal medicine comes from the DRC
• Common diseases and culture-bound illnesses are
treated with plants.
• Food medicine dominates the market in Matonge
• Selling unregistered herbal medicine is not
allowed according to European law

9. Material & Methods
Market surveys in Matonge March-June 2014
• Counting shops and selling points with African plants sold
• Inventory of medicinal plants sold
• Semi structured interviews with vendors and clients
• Collecting samples of medicinal plants
(Quiroz et al., 2014; Towns and van Andel, 2014; van Andel and van t’ Klooster, 2007; Vandebroek and Balick, 2012a; Vandebroek, 2013).
Data Analysis
• Identification in Naturalis using flora & literature, field guides, online
databases
• Comparison with data on market surveys Central and West Africa
• Compare floristic diversity in African-managed vs Pakistani shops.
Central Africa: DRC: Biloso & Lejoly, ; Termote et al, 2012; Iwu,1993; (Hoare, 2007), and
West Africa: Ghana (Andel van et al., 2012), Benin (Quiroz et al., 2014),
Gabon (Vliet van, 2012), (Lieke, 2013), (Towns et al, 2014),

10. Results : Market profile
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Non-African
managed
shops
African
managed
shops
Ethnicity of vendors in
Matonge, 2014
Percentage
Provenance of medicinal
plants sold at Matonge
Democratic Republic of Congo,
Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal, Benin,
Mali, South Africa, Uganda.
Aloe vera

11. Biological diversity
• 69 medicinal products (67 species, 38 families)
• Highest species number Malvaceae (7 spp.), Leguminosae (6
spp.), Apocynaceae (4 spp.)
• 15 spp. mentioned by clients but not found in shop
• Acridocarpus sp.
• Erythrophleum africanum,
• Raphia sese
Saba senegalensis
Raphia sese

12. Top 10 Food-medicine plants sold at Matonge-Ixelles
• Dacryodes edulis Fresh fruits 21%
Plant Part used Percnetage of shops
(n=19)
Gnetum africanum Sliced leaves 89%
Elaeis guineensis Oil from fruits 84%
Colocasia esculenta Starchy tubers 84%
Capsicum annuum Fresh and dried fruits 79%
Manihot esculenta Starchy tuber and frozen
leaves
79%
Abelmoschus esculentus Fresh fruits 79%
Ipomea batatas Frsh leaves 74%
Musa X paradisiaca Fresh fruits 68%
Hibiscus acetosella Fresh and dried leaves 32%
Hibiscus sabdarifa Dried calyces 26%
Zingibera officinale Rhizomes 26%

13. Food vs Non-food medicine
-
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Food medicine Nonfood
medicine
Food medicine vs nonfood
• Annickia polycarpa
• Acacia nilotica
• Carissa cf. spinarum
• Cola spp.
• Vetiveria zizanioides.
90%
10%
Distribution of Non food medicine
African managed shops Pakistanis shops

14. Diseases treated
Aphrodisiacs
27%
Women health
15%
Skin
disease
12%
Rituals
9%
Laxatives
8%
Diabetes
6%
Cough
6%
Teeth pain
5%
Hemorrhoids
4%
Prostate
cancer 4%
Breast cancer
4%
% (of all 82 spp.)
Saba senegalensis

15. Ritual Plants
• Elaeis guineensis,
• Erythrophleum africanum,
• Afrostyrax lepidophyllus,
• Ocimum gratissimum
• Gnetum africanum
Ocimum gratissimum

16. Why buy food medicine at Matonge
• Cultural identity and value
• Spread traditions in host country
• Trust in African Traditional Medicine
• Cultural-bound disease vs biomedicine
• Strengthening intercultural relationship
Aframomum melegueta

17. Matonge-Ixelles: Access to Congolese
traditional pharmacopeia?
• About 25% DRC herbal plant diversity available in Matonge
• About 7% sold underground (private homes)
• Several common species not available
• Very few African migrants involved in the trade of herbal medicine
(limited by rent, taxes, strict regulation)

18. Discussion
• Formal vs underground market (selling from home)
• Home surveys vs market surveys
• Processed samples difficult to identify
• Vernacular names not well documented
• Better documentation needed
Carissa cf spinarum
‘fimbo ya mibali
‘racine des garçons’

19. Conclusions
• Trade in herbal medicine no more dominated by
African/Congolese, but Pakistanis
• Higher plant diversity in shops managed by African
• Both common and culture-bound illnesses treated
• More food medicine (67%) than non-food medicine
• Underground market vs. formal circuit (strict regulation, rent,
taxes etc.)
• DRC herbal medicine represented by 25%
• Matonge as center for African urban ethnobotany
Lippia multiflora

20. Next steps: …back to DRCongo
• Document women Traditional
Knowledge on food plants in post
conflict zones
• Reforestation for people, food and
conservation
– Design the (Ethno) Botanic Garden
• Collection seed bank for local
community/IDPs
• Awareness and capacity building
involving indigenous /IDPs
Rumex abyssinicus

21. Thanks for the Cooperation
www.drccfoundation.org
www.uni50lwiro.org

22. Ethnobotany, Migration, Food security : Women Traditional Knowledge
of food plants in South-Kivu,
DR Congo

23. DR Congo, a mega
biodiversity in Africa:
Endemic species and Wild Edible Plants!

24. 19, 279, 918 ha , about 8% of DRC is
protected areas , UICN, 2010
Gorilla Gorilla beringei
in the PNKB, South-Kivu
Linking Biodiversity Conservation, Migration and Food security in fragile zones in DRC?

25. Protected areas in displacement zones in South-Kivu
Displaced pygmees in a village outside the National
Park Kahuzi-Biega (PNKB), South-Kivu
About 62.000 people were displaced in
2016 in the South-Kivu, Report. OCHA,
About 84% of food insecure
How to conciliate the migration, food
security and livelihoods in conflict
zones?

26. • In South-Kivu, high number of displaced people
• Decline in crop production in the agriculture
• High reliance on exotic food products on the market (Vwim, 2011,
2014)
• Highest level of food insecurity in conflict zones (64%,WFP, 2014)
• Agriculture primary livelihood is constraint by ongoing
conflicts, crop diseases , and limited to access to land

27. People and Traditional Knowledge of food plants
Shift from wild to domestication: challenges for sustainable
agriculture

28. Necessity to promote minor, neglected traditional
food crops
• Vigna unguiculata (Nkole, in
Mashi)
• Lagenaria siceraria
• Eleusine spp. (Obulo in
Mashi)
• Dioscorea alata (Maliga in
Mashi)
• Sorghum bicolor (Mahemba
in Mashi)
• Zea mays (Chigonji, en
Mashi)
• Cardamina spp.(Njinji in
Mashi)
• Cleome gynandra(Muhole)
• Solanum nigrum (Mulunda,
in Mashi)
• Amaranthus viridis (
Ntendabuka in Mashi)
• Dioscorea bulbifera (Iyange
in Mashi)
• Aframomun spp.
(Bitakumburwa, in Mashi)
• Nephrolepis biserrata
(Bisirusiru in Mashi)
• Solanum tuberosum (birayi
in Swahili)

29. • Sustainable management of the
indiginous knowledge of local plants
• Food for reintegration of indigennous
in local community).
Dioscorea bulbifera ,
Pygmee children in a field of Cannabis
sativa, village outside the PNKB

30. Valorization of Traditional Knowledge of food plants and minor crops in
migration settings in South-Kivu

31. • Alternative Transition
zone between PAs and
the local people
• Conciliate conservation
approaches including
local/indigenous/
displaced people (IDPs)
• Traditional knowledge
for resilience and
protect cultural heritage
Botanic
Garden
Transition
zone
Université
50 Lwiro
Protected
areas
(PNKB)
Local
communities
(indigenous
and displaced)
The role of a Botanic Garden

32. Plan of the pilot Botanic Garden at
Lwiro, South-Kivu

33. Universite du Cinquantenaire de Lwiro
Site maping

34. With the participation of women pygmees and ecoguides of the PNKB, we
collect wild food plant seeds for the domestication in the pilot botanic
garden at Lwiro (about 20 ha).

35. Nursary of the pilot UNI50BG Lwiro

36. • Botanic Garden approach in displacement
zones
- Selection and domestication of wild,
endemic, and under utilized plants for
resilience and food security
– Produce browse for captive animals in
transition zones
– Research on traditional knowledge of
local plant species
– Awareness/Education on management
strategies
Aframomum spec., pic. Mariec
Fundiko

37. Animal in transit at Lwiro
Displaced pygmees in food
insecurity !

38. Food for peace: valorization of traditional
knowledge and integration of vulnerable
Pygmee women negotiating
arrable land to grow their food
Pygmees with tools to work on farm
land

39. Thanks for your attention
Shift from wild to domestication

40. With the Taxonomy
Group at The Herbarium
of the CRSN/Lwiro

41. www.diergaardeblijdorp.nl
www.drccfoundation.org
www.uni50lwiro.org
Cooperation