Urban Trade of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) in Kolwezi, DR Congo: Diversity, Livelihoods, and Sustainability Changes

The urban trade in non-timber forest products (NTFPs) plays a crucial role in the resil-ience of populations in the Global South while exerting increasing pressure on ecosys-tems. This study analyses the dynamics of these resources in Kolwezi (DR Congo), a rapidly expanding mining city where data on these value chains remain fragmented. The methodological approach is based on interviews conducted with 35 vendors in two main urban markets and 384 users across different city neighbourhoods to char-acterize the diversity, socio-economic importance, and perceived factors responsible for the decline in NTFP availability. The results reveal a high level of biocultural diver-sity, with 65 species recorded (49 plant, 14 animal, and 2 fungal), closely linked to miombo ecosystems. Medicinal (59.3%) and food (29.4%) uses predominate, repre-sented by multifunctional species such as Bobgunnia madagascariensis, Canarium schweinfurthii, Terminalia mollis, Gardenia ternifolia, and Albizia antunesiana. From a so-cio-economic perspective, the NTFP trade is a permanent activity and a key livelihood pillar, largely carried out by women (79.1%). Monthly gross incomes, ranging from USD 9 to 429.3, depend primarily on the volumes sold. However, the sector is weak-ened by logistical constraints and a decline in resource availability in urban markets. Respondents mainly attribute this scarcity to deforestation, mining expansion, overex-ploitation, and climate change. Ensuring the sector’s sustainability requires integrated strategies, including the domestication of priority species, improved organization of stakeholders, and restoration of miombo landscapes, to reconcile the maintenance of socio-economic benefits with the conservation of natural ecosystems.