The objective of this study is to understand the diversity of edible wild species sold on the markets of Bangui. To do this, ethnobotanical surveys on the marketing of these resources were carried out from September to December 2023 with 150 sellers installed in six popular markets in Bangui. In total, 86 plant species have been recorded distributed in 69 genera and 41 different families. The analysis of the results showed that the Leguminosae family is the richest (8 species); fruits (68.43%) and leaves (22.12%) are the most sold plant organs; edible fruits (45.16%) remain the most predominant category of uses; these species are mainly trees (55.83%) and are more present in forest ecosystems (52.33%). It also appears that these wild food plants were not only consumed for nutritional needs but also for the traditional treatment of 45 pathologies. These results demonstrate that there is still a high diversity of spontaneous food species in the Central African Republic. Given the dual nutritional and therapeutic interest of these resources, and also in the face of socio-economic issues and the change in food culture in urban areas, the promotion of this precious heritage is necessary and essential. Such an approach would be an opportunity both economically and nutritionally for local populations, particularly women. Also, it would be beneficial to deepen research on the phytochemistry of some spontaneous food plants with medicinal properties in order to achieve the manufacture of improved traditional medicines accessible to all.

The aim of this study is to contribute to the knowledge of certain medicinal plants and their traditional uses on sexual weaknesses in the town of Kenge in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A survey was carried out among 56 traditional practitioners and sellers of aphrodisiac products, sampled using the «snowball» method. The ethnobotanical data collected, supplemented by ecological information, enabled us to identify 27 plant species, divided into 18 families and 14 botanical orders. The results show that the most commonly used species belong to the Fabaceae (14.8%), Amaranthaceae and Zingiberaceae (11.1%), Apocynaceae and Euphorbiaceae (7.4%) families, in the Fabales, Malpighiales and Zingiberales orders respectively. Among the organs most frequently used to treat sexual weaknesses, roots are cited in first place with 34%, leaves and seeds come in second and third place at 24 and 17% respectively, and the combination of these organs is also sometimes reported. The study showed the importance of traditional medicine, which is justified by the specific diversity of local indigenous species present and the endogenous knowledge of traditional practitioners on the use of these species.

This study aims to assess the current state of the drinking water supply system in the city of Amtiman, evaluating both its performance indicators and the quality of the distributed water. Following this assessment, a technical proposal is presented, along with a cost estimate for optimization to ensure a continuous drinking water supply to the city’s residents. To this end: The Epanet software was used to model the network. The reservoir, performance indicators, and population estimate were determined using an analytical method. The results obtained show that it is necessary to (i) construct an additional 300m3 elevated reinforced concrete reservoir to serve the estimated 69,706 inhabitants in 2044, (ii) extend the water distribution network to 14,816 km, for a total of 20,347 km, and (iii) drill 6 new boreholes capable of pumping at least 40m3/h each, connected by a 140mm diameter HDPE supply pipeline. The total cost of the rehabilitation amounts to 975,798,050 FCFA.