By Kudra Maliro
The hairy, wiggly creatures send shivers down the spines of many but in the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, locals harvest the insects with squishy bodies as a delicacy.
Residents of Kisangani, a city in the east of DRC, eagerly await the rainy season for the caterpillars to appear. They are called "Mbinzo" in the local Lingala language.
By 7:00 a.m., the dusty alleyways of the busy "Limanga du PK5" market in Kisangani is teeming with hundreds of women selling caterpillars, some coming on foot, others on motorbikes or vehicles.
The hawkers' calls come from all the sides with the same message accompanied by big smiles. "try it, its caterpillar season," they say repeatedly to attract customers.
To have a taste caterpillars, you need to do so between July and August, according to the residents.
Changing the menu
Otherwise, you will have to wait for the next year because they are seasonal. Mapenzi Vahirwe, a 26-year-old businessman, has never missed a single season in the past 10 years.
"Caterpillars have a sparkling taste and can replace meat on my menu. They can accompany other foods. Caterpillars are served with vegetables, bananas, manioc or foufou," adds Mr. Mapenzi.
The appearance of caterpillars is a boon in Kisangani, a city of about 1.8 million people with children particularly hit by a lack of access to clean water and food.
"Caterpillars contain large quantities of lipids and proteins, essential nutrients for building and repairing cellular tissue, as well as for producing vital energy,'' Jacky Kasisa, dietician-nutritionist at the Garde Républicaine military hospital in Kinshasa tells TRT Afrika.
Mixed perception
“Dried and ground caterpillar powder is also used to feed the malnourished", she adds.
The caterpillars are mainly collected from a large forest along the Congo River. Despite their aromatic smell when cooked, many people detest the creatures.
Unlike her husband and children, Jeanne Kalunga, in her sixties, does not like the insects much. Nevertheless, she prepares caterpillar meals for the family.
The ‘Mbinzo season’ is a time of booming business for women who venture into the thick forests to collect the caterpillars.
Adèle Mambo looks forward to this season. Every morning, she travels up to 58 kilometers by motorcycle to reach the village of Wanyerukula, where the caterpillars are collected during the night.
Diaspora gift
"The gain is sometimes double if the caterpillars don't rot on the way. If, for example, I buy the value of one kilogram at five thousand Congolese francs (around $2), I can resell the same quantity for ten to fifteen thousand francs", explains Mambo with a smile. "The caterpillars enrich us during their season," she adds.
When quantities are large, the caterpillars are fire-dried to guarantee their preservation, which can last up to twelve months.
This practice also enables them to be exported to other cities around the world, where families and friends await their mid-year gift.
"I don't have much money to buy more. As the season is very short, I am going to buy with the little I have," says Bahati Kalekele, a Goma resident who has travelled some 400 kilometers to take part in the seasonal market.
