Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Long-Term Foraging Expeditions (Molongo) among the Baka Hunter-Gatherers in the Northwestern Congo Basin, with Special Reference to the “Wild Yam Question”

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Human Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Bahuchet, S. (1985). Les Pygmées Aka et la forêt centrafricaine, ethnologic écologique. (Ethnosciences 1). SELAF, Paris.

  • Bahuchet, S. (1988). Food supply and uncertainty among the Aka Pygmies (Lobaye, Central African Republic). In de Garine, I., and Harrison, G. A. (eds.), Coping with Uncertainty in the Food Supply. Clarendon, Oxford, pp. 88–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bahuchet, S. (1992). Spatial mobility and access to resources among the African Pygmies. In Casimir, M. J., and Rao, A. (eds.), Mobility and Territoriality: Social and Spatial Boundaries among Foragers, Fishers, Pastoralists and Peripatetics, Berg publishers limited, Oxford, pp. 205–257.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bahuchet, S. (1993). Dans la forêt d’Afrique centrale, les Pygmées Aka et Baka. (Histoire d’une civilisation forestière I). SELAF, Paris.

  • Bahuchet, S., and Guillaume, H. (1982). Aka-farmer relations in the northwest Congo Basin. In Leacock, E., and Lee, R. (eds.), Politics and History in Band Societies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 189–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bahuchet, S., McKey, D., and De Garine, I. (1991). Wild yams revisited: Is independence from agriculture possible for rain forest hunter-gatherers? Human Ecology 19(2): 213–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, R. C. (1991). The behavioral ecology of Efe pygmy men in the Ituri Forest, Zaire. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, R. C., Head, G., Jenike, M., Owen, B., Rechtman, R., and Zechenter, E. (1989). Hunting and gathering in tropical forest: Is it possible? American Anthropologist 91(1): 59–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, R. C., and Headland, T. N. (1991). The tropical rain forest: Is it a productive environment for human foragers? Human Ecology 19(2): 261–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, R. C., and Peacock, N. R. (1988). Efe Pygmies of northeastern Zaire: Subsistence strategies in the Ituri forest. In de Garine, I., and Harrison, G. A. (eds.), Coping with Uncertainty in the Food Supply, Clarendon, Oxford, pp. 88–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brosius, J. P. (1991). Foraging in tropical forests: The case of the Penan of Sarawak, East Malaysia (Borneo). Human Ecology 19(2): 123–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chardonnet, P., Fritz, H., Zorzi, N., and Feron, E. (1995). Current importance of traditional hunting and major contrasts in wild meat consumption in sub-Saharan Africa. In Bissonette, J. A., and Krausman, P. R. (eds.), Integrating People and Wildlife for a Sustainable Future, The Wildlife Society, Bethada, pp. 304–307.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dounias, E. (1993). Perception and use of wild yams by the Baka hunter-gatherers in south Cameroon. In Hladik, C. M., Hladik, A., Licares, O. F., Pagezy, H., Semple, A., and Hadley, M. (eds.), Tropical Forests, People and Food: Biocultural Interactions and Applications to Development, UNESCO, Paris, pp. 621–632.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dounias, E. (2001). The management of wild yam tubers by the Baka Pygmies in southern Cameroon. African Study Monographs suppl. 26: 135–156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dumont, R., Hamon, P., and Seignobos, C. (1994). Les Ignames au Cameroun. CIRAD, Montpellier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dwyer, P. D., and Minnegal, M. (1991). Hunting in lowland, tropical rain forest: Towards a model of non-agricultural subsistence. Human Ecology 19(2): 187–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Endicott, K., and Bellwood, P. (1991). The possibility of independent foraging in the rain forest of peninsular Malaysia. Human Ecology 19(2): 151–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • FAO/WHO Committee. (1973). Energy and Protein Requirements. Technical Report Series no 522. World Health Organization, Geneva.

  • Hamon, P., Dumont, R., Zoundjihekpon, J., Tio Toure, B., and Hamon, S. (1995). Les Ignames Sauvages d’Afrique de I’Ouest. Caracteristiques morphologiques. ORSTOM, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harako, R. (1976). The Mbuti as hunters: A study of ecological anthropology of the Mbuti Pygmies (1). Kyoto University African Studies 10: 37–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hart, T. B., and Hart, J. A. (1986). The ecological basis of hunter-gatherer subsistence in African rain forests: The Mbuti of eastern Zaire. Human Ecology 14(1): 29–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hart, T. B., Hart, J. A., and Murphy, P. (1989). Monodominant and species-rich forests of the humid tropics: Census for their co-occurrence. American Naturalist 133: 613–633.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hart, J. A. (1978). From subsistence to market: A case study of the Mbuti net hunters. Human Ecology 6(3): 325–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Headland, T. N. (1987). The wild yam question: How well could independent hunter-gatherers live in a tropical rain forest ecosystem? Human Ecology 15(4): 463–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Headland, T. N. (1997). Revisionism in ecological anthropology. Current Anthropology 38(4): 605–630.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Headland, T. N., and Bailey, R. C. (1991). Introduction: Have hunter-gatherers ever lived in tropical rain forest independently of agriculture? Human Ecology 19(2): 115–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Headland, T. N., and Reid, L. A. (1989). Hunter-Gatherers and their Neighbors from Prehistory to the Present. Current Anthropology 30(1): 43–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hewlett, B. S. (1991). Intimate fathers: the nature and context of Aka pygmy paternal infant care. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hladik, A., Bahuchet, S., Ducatillion, C., and Hladik, C. M. (1984). Les plantes à tubercules de la forêt dense d’Afrique Centrale. Revue d’Ecologie. Revue d’Ecologie (Terre et Vie) 39: 249–290.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hladik, A., and Dounias, E. (1993). Wild yams of the African forest as potential food resources. In Hladik, C. M., Hladik, A., Licares, O. F., Pagezy, H., Semple, A., and Hadley, M. (eds.), Tropical Forests, People and Food: Biocultural Interactions and Applications to Development, UNESCO, Paris, pp. 163–176.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ichikawa, M. (1983). An examination of the hunting-dependent life of the Mbuti Pygmies. African Study Monographs 4: 55–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joiris, D. V. (1998). La Chasse, La Chance, La Chant: Aspects du System Rituel des Baka du Cameroun (Ph.D. dissertation). Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels.

  • Joiris, D. V. (2003). The framework of central African hunter-gatherers and neighboring societies. African Study Monographs Suppl. 28: 57–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kent, S. (ed.) (2002). Ethnicity, Hunter-Gatherers, and the ‘Other’: Association or Assimilation in Africa. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kingdon, J. (1997). Field Guide to African Mammals. Princeton University Press, Princeton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitanishi, K. (1994). The exchange of forest products (Irvingia nuts) between the Aka hunter-gatherers and the cultivators in northeastern Congo. Tropics 4(1): 79–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kitanishi, K. (1995). Seasonal changes in the subsistence activities and food intake of the Aka hunter-gatherers in northeastern Congo. African Study Monographs 16(2): 73–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitanishi, K. (2003). Cultivation by Baka hunter-gatherers in the tropical rain forest of central Africa. African Study Monographs Suppl. 28: 143–157.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leclerc, C. (2001). En Bordure de Route: Espace Social, Dynamisme et Relation à L’environnement chez les Pygmées Baka du Sud-Est Cameroun. Ph.D. dissertation. Université de Paris X, Paris.

  • Lee, R. B., and Devore, I. (1966). Man the Hunter. Aldine, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leung, W. W. (1968). Food Composition Table for Use in Africa. FAO Nutrition Division; U.S. Department of Health Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Bethesda.

    Google Scholar 

  • Letouzey, R. (1985). Notice de la Carte Phytogéographique du Cameroun au 1:500000. Institute de la Recherché Agronomique (Herbier National), Toulouse.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maley, J. (2001). The impact of arid phases on the African rain forest through geographical history. In Weber, W., White, L. J. T., Vedder, A., and Noughton-Treves, L. (eds.), African rain forest ecology and conservation, Yale University Press, New Haven, pp. 68–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mercader, J. (ed.) (2003). Under the Canopy: The Archeology of Tropical Rain Forests. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noss, A. (1998). The impacts of cable snare hunting on wildlife populations in the forests of the Central African Republic. Conservation Biology 12: 390–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ORSTOM (1966). Dictionnaire des Villages de Boumba Ngoko. Centre Orstom de Yaounde, Yaounde.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rupp, S. (2003). Interethnic relations in southeastern Cameroon: Challenging the “hunter-gatherer”–“farmer” dichotomy. African Study Monographs Supp. 28: 37–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sato, H. (1992). Notes on the distribution and settlement pattern of hunter-gatherers in northeastern Congo. African Study Monographs 13(4): 203–216.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sato, H. (2001). The potential of edible wild yams and yam-like plants as a staple food resource in the African tropical rain forest. African Study Monographs Suppl. 26: 123–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schrire, C. (1980). An inquiry into the evolutionary status and apparent identity of San hunter-gatherers. Human Ecology 8: 9–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schrire, C. (ed.) (1984). Past and Present in Hunter Gatherer Studies. Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solway, J. S., and Lee, R. B. (eds.) (1990). Foragers, genuine or spurious? Situating the Kalahari San in history. Current Anthropology 31(2): 109–146.

    Google Scholar 

  • Speth, J., and Spielman, K. (1983). Energy source, protein metabolism, and hunter-gatherer subsistence strategies. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 2: 1–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stearman, A. M. (1991). Making a living in the tropical forest: Yuqui foragers in the Bolivian Amazon. Human Ecology 19(2): 245–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanno, T. (1977). The Mbuti net-hunters in the Ituri forest, eastern Zaire: Their hunting activities and band composition. Kyoto University African Studies 10: 101–135.

    Google Scholar 

  • Terashima, H. (1983). Mota and other hunting activities of the Mbuti archers: A socio-ecological study of subsistence technology. African Study Monographs 3: 71–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thikakul, S. (1985). Manual of Dendrology Cameroon. Forestry Institutional Support Project. National Centre for Forestry Development, Québec.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsuru, D. (1998). Diversity of ritual spirit performances among the Baka Pygmies in southeastern Cameroon. African Study Monographs Suppl. 25: 47–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turnbull, C. (1965). Wayward Servants: The Two Worlds of the African Pygmies. The American Museum of Natural History, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, L. J. T. (2001). The African rain forest: Climate and vegetation. In Weber, W., White, L. J. T., Vedder, A., and Noughton-Treves, L. (eds.), African rain forest ecology and conservation, Yale University Press, New Haven, pp. 3–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilmsen, E. (1983). The ecology of illusion: anthropological foraging in the Kalahari. Reviews in Anthropology 10(1): 9–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilmsen, E. (1989). Land Filled with Flies: a Political Economy of the Kalahari. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilmsen, E., and Denbow, J. (1990). Paradigmatic history of San-speaking peoples and current attempts at revision. Current Anthropology 31(5): 489–524.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

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.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto University, 606-8501, Kyoto, Japan

    Hirokazu Yasuoka

Authors
  1. Hirokazu Yasuoka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

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

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-006-9017-1

KEY WORDS:

Search

Navigation