Reducing Wild Meat Sales and Promoting Local Food Security: Lessons Learnt from a Behavior Change Campaign in Yangambi, Democratic Republic of Congo
Visualizações: 1304DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15451/ec2022-04-11.09-1-14Keywords:
consumer demand, wildlife depletion, word of mouthAbstract
Marketing strategies to promote behavioral change are increasingly used to reduce the unsustainable use of wild meat. One of the mayor keys for success of behavior change campaigns lies in the choice of the channel for communication and the messaging. In this research, we present a behavioral change campaign implemented in Yangambi, Democratic Republic of Congo framed around an integrated conservation and development objective: improve food security in rural communities, reduce the unsustainable use of wildlife for food and promote locally grown pork and chicken. The campaign was co-developed based on the research team’s knowledge of the hunting system in the study area and the participation of key local stakeholders (village leaders, hunters and their families). It used participatory community theater, various printed materials, radio and face to face interactions. We evaluated the efficiency and clarity of messaging for channels used through semi-structured interviews with hunters, households and wildlife traders. We found that participatory community theater resulted in increased clarity and understanding among hunters and households. Moreover, community theater promoted word-of-mouth communication that reached an audience well beyond the location where the theater was held. Messages that were framed positively and used amusing channels of communication triggered positive receptiveness by our audience. Using local languages, avoiding written materials for illiterate audiences, and using repetitive means of communication may be among the strategies that could help increase the clarity of communication messages, particularly for sensitive topics such as this one. Our work calls for more lessons learnt from the ground about the most appropriate communication channels and messages, keeping in mind the social and cultural background of the audience, and ensuring that messages trigger emotions that lead to the desired changes.
Downloads
References
Callister RR, Geddes D, Gibson DF (2017) When is anger helpful or hurtful? Status and role impact on anger expression and outcomes. Negotiation and Conflict Management Research 10:69–87 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ncmr.12090
Challender DWS, Macmillan DC (2014) Transforming wildlife trade interventions: reply to Phelps et al. Conservation Letter 7:497–498 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12101
Chausson AM, Rowcliffe JM, Escouflaire L, Wieland M, Wright JH (2019) Understanding the sociocultural drivers of urban bushmeat consumption for behavior change interventions in Pointe Noire, Republic of Congo. Human Ecology 47:179–191 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-019-0061-z
Chaves WA, Valle DR, Monroe MC, Wilkie DS, Sieving KE, Sadowsky B (2018) Changing wild meat consumption: an experiment in the central Amazon, Brazil. Conservation Letters 11:1–10 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12391
Chaves WA, Wilkie DS, Monroe MC, Sieving KE (2017) Market access and wild meat consumption in the central Amazon, Brazil. Biological Conservation 212:240–248 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017.06.013
Diddi P, Kumble S, Shen F (2021) Efficacy of radio entertainment education in promoting health behavior: A meta-analysis. Journal of Radio & Audio Media 1–21 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19376529.2021.1931229
Doughty H, Milner-Gulland EJ, Lee JSH, Oliver K, Carrasco LR, Veríssimo D (2021) Evaluating a large-scale online behavior change intervention aimed at wildlife product consumers in Singapore. PLoS ONE 16:e0248144 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248144
Duffy R, Masse F, Smidt E, Marijnen E, Buscher B, Verweijen J, Ramutsindela M, Simlai T, Joanny L, Lunstrum E (2019) Why we must question the militarisation of conservation | Elsevier Enhanced Reader. Biological Conservation 66–73 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.01.013
Fernandez ME, Ruiter RAC, Markham CM, Kok G (2019) Intervention mapping: Theory-and evidence-based health promotion program planning: Perspective and examples. Frontiers in Public Health 7: DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2019.00209
Gantiva C, Jiménez-Leal W, Urriago-Rayo J (2021) Framing messages to deal with the COVID-19 crisis: the role of loss/gain frames and content. Frontiers in Psychology 12:1–8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.568212
Gluszek S, Viollaz J, Mwinyihali R, Wieland M, Gore ML (2021) Using conservation criminology to understand the role of restaurants in the urban wild meat trade. Conservation Science and Practice 3:1–13 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.368
Godes D, Mayzlin D (2004) Using online conversations to study word-of-mouth communication. Marketing Science 23:545–560 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.1040.0071
Gough A, Hunter RF, Ajao O, Jurek A, McKeown G, Hong J, Barrett E, Ferguson M, McElwee G, McCarthy M, Kee F (2017) Tweet for behavior change: Using social media for the dissemination of public health messages. JMIR Public Health and Surveillance 3:1–17 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2196/publichealth.6313
Heino MTJ, Knittle KP, Noone C, Hasselman F, Hankonen N (2020) Studying behavior change mechanisms under complexity. Behavioral Sciences 11:77 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/bs11050077
Hoff K, Jalan J, Santra S (2021) Participatory theater empowers women: evidence from India. Policy Research Working Paper. [https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/35642/Participatory-Theater-Empowers-Women-Evidence-from-India.pdf?sequence=1]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-9680
Lemos LP, Loureiro LF, Morcatty TQ, Fa JE, de Vasconcelos Neto CFA, de Souza Jesus A, da Silva VC, de Oliveira Ramalho ML, de Matos Mendes A, Valsecchi J, El Bizri HR (2021) Social correlates of and reasons for primate meat consumption in central Amazonia. International Journal of Primatology 42:499–521 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-021-00214-6
McCallum DM, Reed DB, Claunch DT, Davis CM, Conaway MB (2021) Farm Dinner Theater: testing an innovative health and safety intervention among older farmers and their families. Journal of rural health DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jrh.12601
Niewiadomska K, Kosicka-Gebska M, Gebski J, Gutkowska K, Jezewska-Zychowicz M, Sułek M (2020) Game meat consumption-conscious choice or just a game? Foods 9:1357 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9101357
Nowak A, Rosenstock TS, Hammond J, Degrande A, Smith E (2019) Livelihoods of households living near Yangambi Biosphere Reserve , Democratic Republic of Congo. Bogor, Indonesia. [https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/106174/8.Nowak_2019_Brief RHoMIS %28EN%29.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y].
Olmedo A, Veríssimo D, Challender DWS, Dao HTT, Milner-Gulland EJ (2021) Who eats wild meat? Profiling consumers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. People and Nature 3:700–710 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10208
Osborne D, Smith HJ, Huo YJ (2012) More than a feeling: Discrete emotions mediate the relationship between relative deprivation and reactions to workplace furloughs. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 38:628–641 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167211432766
Saaka M, Wemah K, Kizito F, Hoeschle-Zeledon I (2021) Effect of nutrition behavior change communication delivered through radio on mothers’ nutritional knowledge, child feeding practices and growth. Journal of nutritional science 10:e44 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/jns.2021.35
Shairp R, Veríssimo D, Fraser I, Challender D, Macmillan D (2016) Understanding urban demand for wild meat in Vietnam: Implications for conservation actions. PLoS ONE 11:1–14 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0134787
Thomas-Walters L, Hinsley A, Bergin D, Burgess G, Doughty H, Eppel S, MacFarlane D, Meijer W, Lee TM, Phelps J, Smith RJ, Wan AKY, Veríssimo D (2021) Motivations for the use and consumption of wildlife products. Conservation Biology 35:483–491 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13578
Thomas-Walters L, Vieira S, Jiménez V, Monteiro D, Ferreira B, Smith RJ, Veríssimo D (2020) Challenges in the impact evaluation of behavior change interventions: The case of sea turtle meat and eggs in São Tomé. People and Nature 2:913–922 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10162
Travers H, Archer LJ, Mwedde G, Roe D, Baker J, Plumptre AJ, Rwetsiba A, Milner-Gulland EJ (2019) Understanding complex drivers of wildlife crime to design effective conservation interventions. Conservation Biology 33:1296–1306 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13330
Travers H, Walsh J, Vogt S, Clements T, Milner-Gulland E (2021) Delivering behavioral change at scale: What conservation can learn from other fields. Biological Conservation 257:109092 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109092
Vasan M (2020) Effectiveness of word of mouth communication: receiver perspectives. 246–251 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/I-SMAC49090.2020.9243575
Veríssimo D, ’t Sas-Rolfes M, Glikman JA (2020) Influencing consumer demand is vital for tackling the illegal wildlife trade. People and Nature 2:872–876 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10171
Veríssimo D, Wan AKY (2019) Characterizing efforts to reduce consumer demand for wildlife products. Conservation Biology 33:623–633 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13227
van Vliet N, Mbazza P (2011) Recognizing the Multiple Reasons for Bushmeat Consumption in Urban Areas : A Necessary Step Toward the Sustainable Use of Wildlife for Food in Central Africa. Human Dimensions of Wildlife 16:45–54 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10871209.2010.523924
van Vliet N, Muhindo J, Kambale Nyumu J, Mushagalusa O, Nasi R (2018) Mammal Depletion Processes as Evidenced From Spatially Explicit and Temporal Local Ecological Knowledge. Tropical Conservation Science 11:1–16 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1940082918799494
van Vliet N, Muhindo J, Nyumu JK, Nasi R (2019) From the Forest to the Dish : A Comprehensive Study of the Wildmeat Value Chain in Yangambi , Democratic Republic of Congo. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 7:132 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00132
van Vliet N, Nebesse C, Gambalemoke S, Akaibe D, Nasi R (2012) The bushmeat market in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo: Implications for conservation and food security. Oryx 46:196–203 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605311000202
van Vliet N, Nebesse C, Nasi R (2015) Bushmeat consumption among rural and urban children from Province Orientale, Democratic Republic of Congo. Oryx 49:165–174 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605313000549
van Vliet N, Nyumu JK, Nziavake S, Muhindo J, Paemelaere EAD, Nasi R (2021) How Do Local Folks Value Wild Meat, and Why It Matters? A Study in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Human Ecology DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-021-00275-4
van Vliet N, Schulte-Herbrüggen B, Muhindo J, Nebesse C, Gambalemoke S, Nasi R (2017) Trends in bushmeat trade in a postconflict forest town: Implications for food security. Ecology and Society 22:35 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09780-220435
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
