Central African Republic: the race for caterpillars in the forests of Lobaye [1/3]
Audio 02:19
In the small village of Mokinda, the hunt for caterpillars begins even before the first light of day.
© RFI / Carol Valade
By: Carol Valade Follow
4 min
Reportage Africa takes you all this weekend to the Central African Republic, in the heart of its deep forests in the east of the country.
In Lobaye, the rainy season from July to September rhymes with the caterpillar season.
While the sky pours torrents of water on the equatorial forest, the butterfly larvae grow in the shelter of the trees and feed on the leaves until they reach the size of a finger.
When the rays of the sky come to dry the tops, the very plump caterpillars fall naturally under the effect of their own weight.
You just have to bend down to pick them up.
A financial and nutritious windfall for a country suffering from chronic food insecurity.
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Report from our special correspondent in Mokinda
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Central African Republic