Bananas are one of the main foodstuffs in the city of Butembo. In order to understand the marketing circuit as well as the consumption of bananas at the household level, a study was carried out in the city of Butembo. Its objectives were to understand how the marketing system for cooking bananas and plantains is organized and structured, to identify the problems or difficulties that hinder the marketing of cooking bananas and plantains and to compare the consumption of plantains to that of cooking bananas in households. To achieve these objectives, a survey was conducted among 96 plantain and cooking banana sellers and 100 households were used for the consumption study. At the end of these surveys, the results reveal that the banana marketing circuit is characterized by a multitude of actors playing different functions and having divergent market logics. The majority of these players are retailers (69.07 %) and wholesalers in the consumer market (50.52 %). Processors and wholesalers at the place of production are less represented. The main constraints in the marketing of plantains and cooking bananas are related to losses due to the perishability of bananas, transport problems induced by the advanced state of disrepair of the roads in the supply areas, the lack of customers, the lack of banana conservation structure, price instability and lack of knowledge of the transformation of bananas into other products. This study shows that 100 % of surveyed households consume plantains (Ndizi) against 98 % of households that consume cooking bananas (Bisamunyu). Regarding the consumption of bananas within a household, the study shows that a household with an average household size can consume between 1 and 10 kg of cooking bananas per day and per meal with an average of 3.15±1.78 kg. The interpretation of the third quartile indicates that 75 % of the households surveyed consume a daily quantity of cooking bananas of less than 4 kg per meal. Regarding the consumption of plantains, in a household with an average household size, the daily quantity varies from 1 to 8 kg with an average of 2.39 ± 1.23 kg per meal. Indeed, 75% of surveyed households consume less than 3 kg of plantains per day and per meal.

In the rural commune of Luotu, market gardening is a significant supplement to food and is a source of substantial income that allows some local populations to live decently. It is in this context that this study was carried out with the aim of evaluating the impact of market gardening activities on food security in the rural commune of Luotu, province of North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo. The surveys were carried out in two villages (Valya and Lukole) due to 60 market gardeners per village. The results show that market gardening is booming in the study area; the most popular are leeks, cabbage, beans, corn, peas, potatoes, onions, carrots, garlic, amaranths, etc. The choice of one of the vegetable crops is more dictated by food and cultural habits as well as its financial profitability. It was found that men are more involved in this activity and generate more income (127.2 ± 184.9 USD) than women (112.2 ± 169.5 USD). Although this activity is lucrative, it is faced with problems (lack of market gardeners inputs, land tenure insecurity, lack of financing, climate disturbance), does not cover domestic needs for 42.9% of market gardeners surveyed but also of products remains a constraint for distant marketing center sites. These market gardeners, especially the majority (68.3%) have never benefited from technical supervision from agronomists working in local development organizations or associations. In addition, analyzes show that market garden products are sold more in village markets (67.5%) than in city markets (13.3%), along roads (5%) and in the field (14, 2%). The leafy vegetables consumed by market gardeners in the rural town of Luotu are sombe (15.4%), amaranth (18.1%), bitter nightshade (14.5%), headed cabbage (21.2%) %), cauliflower (11.8%), squash leaves (8.1%), bean leaves (8.1%), taro and colocases leaves (2.8%). However, the frequency of daily meal intake is twice a day for 53% of market garden households. Those who eat once and three times a day represent 23 and 23% respectively. Market gardeners in the rural commune of Luotu allocate an average of 6,276.86 ± 2,810.66 Congolese francs to daily consumption in their households.

The cocoa tree (Theobroma cacao L.) is an economically, nutritionally and socially important crop. Currently, this culture is at the center of scientific debate because it is indexed to play a significant role in the phenomenon of deforestation observed in humid tropical regions. In order to contribute to its expansion while minimizing forest losses and protecting the environment, agroforestry systems integrating herbaceous or woody flora species have emerged as a better alternative. In this perspective, this study constitutes a contribution to the valuation of shade trees in the cultivation of cocoa while maintaining intact its productivity in the territory of Lubero. The objective of the study is to study the influence of shade trees on the morphometric parameters of pods in the ecological environment of Buyinga. To achieve this objective, observations were made at nine cocoa plantations chosen according to their degree of shade. With the exception of the number of pods per stem, the results show that there is a very highly significant difference in the means of the length of the pods, the circumference of the pods and the number of beans per pod in the plantations according to the degree of shading (p-value<0.05). Indeed, the average lengths of the pods are 24.83 ± 4.11 cm in moderately shaded plantations, 22.61 ± 4.38 cm in heavily shaded plantations and 19.20 ± 2.69 cm for plantations without shade (in broad daylight). The average circumferences of the pods are respectively equal to 27.99 ± 3.41 cm for plantations with medium shade, 26.47 ± 2.5 cm for plantations without shade and 26.46 ± 3.49 for plantations with strong shady. The average number of beans per pod is 38.95 in plantations with medium shade against 38.53 beans per pod for plantations without shade and 26.5 beans for plantations with strong shade. Despite the absence of significant difference in the number of pods per stem according to the degree of shade, cocoa plantations growing under medium shade induced a high number of pods per stem compared to other plantations. The average number of pods per stem is around 25.8 ± 7.25 for plantations with medium shade, 23.89 ± 6.03 for plantations with strong shade and 21.51 ± 7.44 for plantings without shade.

At present, vegetatively propagated crops are susceptible to virus infection, and cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is no exception to this generalization. It is in this context that the major concern in Africa has turned to the virus that induces African mosaic. Indeed, African Cassava Mosaic is a major constraint to cassava production due to its implications in dramatically increasing yield losses. In the perspective of setting up strategies to fight against this pandemic, the objective of this research is to study the influence of cropping systems on the degree of susceptibility of Cassava to African Mosaic (MAM) in the locality of Kivira. To achieve this objective, 90 fields were chosen randomly and this because of 30 monoculture fields based on cassava, 30 fields based on cropping associations and 30 fields where cassava is integrated with trees of species forests. The incidence, severity and Symptom Severity Index (SGI) of African Cassava Mosaic were observed in each field. In total, 7820 cassava plants (Manihot esculenta Crantz) were evaluated on all the fields studied. At the end of this study, the results show a very highly significant difference in the number of diseased plants, the incidence and the severity of MAM depending on the cropping systems and cultivars (p-value < 0.05). In the monoculture, we observe a high number of diseased plants with an average of 7.8 plants against 3.9 plants for the association and 2 for the agroforests. The average incidence of African cassava mosaic is 39.52% in monoculture, 22.36% in crop associations and 12.10% in agroforestry systems. The severity values ​​are respectively 20.79% for monoculture, 10.4% for association and 5.73% for agroforestry systems. In view of the results of this study, the extension as well as the adoption by farmers of approaches based on agroforestry can constitute an important pillar for the diversification of production while reducing the effects of African mosaic on cassava cultivation in tropical Africa.

The objective of this paper is to determine the incidence and severity of the FAW (Spodoptera frugiperda J.E Smith) and to study the influence of the cropping system on the degree of infestation of FAW in the cultivated corn fields in Kivira locality. To achieve these objectives, 60 corn fields including 20 fields at the 4 leaf stage, 20 fields at the 8 leaf stage and 20 fields at the flowering stage were visited. At the end of the analysis, the results show that the number of diseased plants was significantly higher for the 8 leaf stage with an average of 7.44 plants compared to the other two stages of corn development. Likewise, in corn fields at the 8 leaf stage, the number of FAW larvae in an area of ​​25 m2 is much higher with an average of 9.79 larvae. As with the number of diseased plants and larvae, the study shows that the number of lesions per leaf at the 8-leaf stage is greater than the number of lesions per leaf at the other phenological stages. The incidence of Fall Armyworm varies significantly with the phenological stages and crop types associated with corn. The average incidence of FAW in fields at the 8 leaf stage is higher than in other phenological stages. The averages are 35.72%, 9.88% and 6.96% for the 8 leaf stage, the flowering stage and the 4 leaf stage respectively. The average severity index for the Fall Armyworm is 7.24%. The maximum value obtained is 22.53%. At the 8-leaf stage, the average severity of FAW is 17.57% compared to 2.32% for the flowering stage and 1.83% for the 4-leaf stage.

Faced with the current trend of rising food insecurity and chronic diseases in urban areas, the adoption by farmers of plants with nutritional and medicinal properties in urban agriculture becomes one of the solutions to this challenge. Currently, chia (Salvia hispanica L.) is one of the crops attracting attention because of its nutritional, medicinal and cosmetic properties. Thus, this study pursues a double objective, namely to study the perceptions of farmers in City of Butembo on this crop and to evaluate the effectiveness of the application of logistic regression. Binary and multinomial logistic regression models were constructed based on data collected from a simple random sample of 120 farmers. This study shows that for a farmer, the knowledge of the chia plant, the consumption of the seeds, the knowledge of the nutritional and medicinal virtues of its seeds, the opinion to undertake this culture, the perception on the evolution of the demand at the market level and the adoption of this crop in urban agriculture vary according to socio-demographic characteristics. The study also shows that logistic regression provides better overall precision, acceptable error rates and moderate Cohen's Kappa coefficients.