While “Pygmy” hunter-gatherers have generally been assumed to be the original inhabitants of the central African rainforest, recent studies dispute the viability of subsistence in tropical rainforests through foraging alone. There are, however, few studies that are based on sound data of actual long-term foraging. This paper examines the viability of “pure” foraging in tropical rainforests, based on data from participant observation of a long-term foraging expedition among the Baka in the northwestern Congo Basin. The group was observed to subsist solely on wild food resources, particularly wild yams, for two-and-half months. The study was carried out during the dry season when food resources are generally thought to be scarce in tropical rainforests.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study was supported by 21st Century COE Program and Scientific Research Program (No. 12371004, headed by Prof. Mitsuo Ichikawa) from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Japan, and by research fellowship for international culture (2001) from the Daido Life Foundation. This study was carried out with the cooperation of Yaoundé University I, Cameroon. I am grateful to Prof. Mitsuo Ichikawa, Kyoto University, for comments and advice. Thanks are due to Prof. Daiji Kimura, Shiho Hattori and Kagari Shikata for helping me to carry out my field research in Cameroon. I wish to express my heartfelt thanks also to the Baka people who went on a forest journey together.
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Yasuoka, H. Long-Term Foraging Expeditions (Molongo) among the Baka Hunter-Gatherers in the Northwestern Congo Basin, with Special Reference to the “Wild Yam Question”. Hum Ecol 34, 275–296 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-006-9017-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-006-9017-1