Traditional Pr aditional Products Made fr oducts Made from Plant Fibers Pr om Plant Fibers Produced b oduced by the Local P Local Population of the W opulation of the Wamba Valley in Democr y in Democratic Republic of atic Republic of Congo

Abstract

This study on the traditional, socio-cultural and commercial values of handicrafts based on fiber plants made by the local populations of the Wamba Valley was carried out within the framework of the development of local forest resources. The main objective was to study the socio-cultural and commercial values of handicrafts made from fiber plants in the study area with a view to considering the conservation and sustainable use of plant resources. The methodological approach was based on observations, inventories of objects made on the basis of fiber plant products supported by survey techniques. The main results show that several objects of value (traditional, socio-cultural, and commercial) are made on the basis of products extracted from the fibers of Raphia, Eremosphata and Urena lubata. This is particularly the case for objects such as hats, bags, sandals, clothes (clothing), baskets, shelves, chairs and rugs. These objects have various economic values, but on average the overall value (the price) of these objects is 562 ± 80 $ i.e. a median of 20 and a mode of 0.5 in the city and 425,3 ± 60.9 $ i.e. a median of 15 and a mode of 0.3 in the town. These objects also respond to cultural and social values. They represent cultural identities of the studied ethnic groups. To avoid the scarcity of these resources in ecosystems, it is important to reconcile use with conservation.

Keywords

• socio-cultural values
• handicrafts
• fiber plants
• traditional values
• wamba valley.