Climate Change Africa Opportunities (CCAO) strengthens the capacities of the green startup "Ecological Food Caterpillars Company (EFCC)" in the Democratic Republic of Congo

publié le 24-02-2021

Climate Change Africa Opportunities (CCAO) strengthens the capacities of the green startup "Ecological Food Caterpillars Company (EFCC)" in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Summary

Ecological Food Caterpillars Company (EFCC) is a newly created community cooperative enterprise which operates at the current stage as a project linked to the NGO PIFEVA (Pillar to Active Vulnerable Women in DR Congo). It will have its management autonomy at the end of the legalization process and will set up a set of statutory, regulatory and management tools for the cooperative by December 2021.

Problems addressed by EFCC

Ecological Food Caterpillars Company (EFCC) addresses the following specific issues:

1) Problem of deforestation caused by uncontrolled logging, in particular the irrational exploitation of trees in the community forests of Mwenga for the production of embers intended for Bukavu (65% of the forests are over-exploited and degraded in the territory of Mwenga) , which have a direct impact on climatic disturbances and its biodiversity, in particular the edible caterpillars on which the indigenous populations (young and women) depend;

2) Poverty and malnutrition problem (68% of the malnutrition rate among women and children under 5 in the Mwenga territory) in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mission

1) Restore the biodiversity of community forests by planting host trees of edible caterpillars, the use of which as food helps to alleviate food insecurity and create a source of income for young people and indigenous women;

2) Support young indigenous women and members of the cooperative in the fight against poverty by setting up traditional (indigenous) mechanisms for the production, conservation and sale of edible caterpillars in order to give these indigenous products value merchant with a specifically indigenous intellectual to improve the socio-economic conditions of indigenous girls and women in the province of South Kivu in eastern DR Congo.

Main activities carried out in 2020

With the support of Climate change-Africa Opportunities (CCAO), Ecological Food Caterpillars Company (EFCC) worked with young people and women (gathered in a community cooperative) and carried out awareness-raising activities for populations to restore biodiversity, the identification and multiplication of the host forest species of the caterpillars, the training of indigenous nurserymen, 3 phases of organized caterpillar reforestation campaign, establishment of local committees for indigenous forest monitoring as well as the training of young people and women in rational management caterpillar trees. Recorded results: 470 hectares reforested with forest species hosting edible caterpillars in 5 community forest blocks, 313 young people and indigenous women have abandoned deforestation activities and embers production, which justifies the reduction of deforestation activities, thus relaunching the biodiversity restoration process in Mwenga territory in South Kivu in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.