Several publications and web-based tools are available in weed science literature to help weed scientists to carry out basic analysis of dose-response studies. Given the nature of the complicated relationship between the explanatory variable (dose as x-axis) evaluated against response variables of interest (y-axis), using regression curves should be the preferred method for handling data analysis. The objective of this manuscript is to provide user-friendly instructions for conducting and analyzing several types of dose-response studies that were lacking in current weed science literature. A better understanding of less commonly used concepts of hormesis and toxicological safety thresholds (no-observable-adverse-effect-level [NOAEL] and lowest-observable-adverse-effect-level [LOAEL]) is needed to help address the potential risks and benefits associated with herbicide use while minimizing environmental impacts. Basic codes available in cost-free R software are provided for data analysis and to foster collaboration among weed scientists.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) officially reports low coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) prevalence. This cross-sectional study, conducted between September and November 2021, assessed the COVID-19 seroprevalence in people attending Goma’s two largest markets, Kituku and Virunga. A similar study in a slum of Bukavu overlapped for 1 month using identical methods. COVID-19-unvaccinated participants (n = 796 including 454 vendors and 342 customers, 60% of whom were women) were surveyed. The median age of vendors and customers was 34.2 and 30.1 years, respectively. The crude and adjusted anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence rates were 70.2% (95% CI 66.9–73.4%) and 98.8% (95% CI 94.1–100%), respectively, with no difference between vendors and customers. COVID-19 symptoms reported by survey participants in the previous 6 months were mild or absent in 58.9% and 41.1% of participants with anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, respectively. No COVID-19-seropositive participants reported hospitalisation in the last 6 months. These findings are consistent with those reported in Bukavu. They confirm that SARS-CoV-2 spread without causing severe symptoms in densely populated settlements and markets and suggest that many COVID-19 cases went unreported. Based on these results, the relevance of an untargeted hypothetical vaccination programme in these communities should be questioned.

Data on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) prevalence in the Democratic Republic of Congo are scarce. We conducted a cross-sectional study to determine the seroprevalence of antibodies against anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in the slum of Kadutu, city of Bukavu, between June and September 2021. The survey participants were all unvaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. The crude seroprevalence rate was adjusted to the known characteristics of the assay. Participants aged 15–49 years old made up 80% of the population enrolled in the study (n = 507; 319 women and 188 men). The overall crude and adjusted seroprevalence rates of antibodies for COVID-19 were 59.7% (95% CI 55.4–63.9%) and 84.0% (95% CI 76.2–92.4%), respectively. This seroprevalence rate indicates widespread dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 in these communities. COVID-19 symptoms were either absent or mild in more than half of the participants with antibodies for COVID-19 and none of the participants with antibodies for COVID-19 required hospitalisation. These results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 spread did not appear to be associated with severe symptoms in the population of these settlements and that many cases went unreported in these densely populated locations. The relevance of vaccination in these communities should be thoroughly investigated.

A research project focused on the cultural heritage of the Swahili-Arab in the Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed the location of their former settlement in Kasongo, one of the westernmost trading entrepôts in a network of settlements connecting Central Africa with Zanzibar. This project represents the first time archaeological investigations, combined with oral history and archival data, have been used to understand the Swahili-Arab legacy in the DRC.

Unwanted and mistimed pregnancies impose threats on the health and well-being of the mother and child and limit the acquisition of optimal sexual and reproductive health services, especially in resource-constrained settings like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This study aimed to determine the prevalence and correlates of mistimed and unwanted pregnancies among women in the DRC. Data were drawn from the 2013–14 DRC Demographic Health Survey (EDS-RDC II). Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify correlates of mistimed and unwanted pregnancies. Sequential logistic regression modelling including distal (place of residence), intermediate (socio-demographic and socioeconomic factors) and proximal (reproductive health and family planning) factors was performed using multivariate analysis. More than a quarter (28%) of pregnancies were reported as unintended (23% mistimed and 5% unwanted). Women who wanted no more children (aOR 1.21; CI: 1.01, 1.44) had less than 24 months of birth spacing (aOR 2.14; CI: 1.80, 2.54) and those who intended to use a family planning method (aOR 1.24; CI: 1.01, 1.52) reported more often that their last pregnancy was mistimed. Women with five or more children (aOR 2.13; CI: 1.30, 3.49), those wanting no more children (aOR 13.07; CI: 9.59, 17.81) and those with more than 48 months of birth spacing (aOR 2.31; CI: 1.26, 4.23) were more likely to report their last pregnancy as unwanted. The high rate of unintended pregnancies in the DRC shows the urgency to act on the fertility behaviour of women. The associated intermediate factors for mistimed and unwanted pregnancy indicate the need to accelerate family planning programmes, particularly for women of high parity and those who want no more children. Likewise, health promotion measures at the grassroots level to ensure women’s empowerment and increase women’s autonomy in health care are necessary to address the social factors associated with mistimed pregnancy.

Empowering farmers to increase productivity by educating them on conservation agriculture (CA) could contribute to reducing vulnerability, alleviating food insecurity, and fighting poverty while being ecologically sustainable in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This study assesses the effect of a CA-promotion agriculture program. Findings suggest that location of the farm, training, having accessed credit, belonging to a farmers’ group, and being a vulnerable female all drove adoption to varying degrees and directions. Results also suggest that policy makers and CA practitioners should emphasize the ability that CA has to increase income and food security, which could widen CA adoption.

Biological surveys starting in the 1950s provided clear evidence that the Itombwe Massif, located in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, is one of the most important areas for conservation in Africa. Further surveys in the mid 1990s and early 2000s showed key species were still present and could be conserved. Following a report on these surveys the Ministry of Environment established the Itombwe Reserve in 2006 without consulting local communities who have legitimate customary rights to reside within the area and use the region's natural resources. Although creating the Reserve was within the government's legal authority, its establishment violated the rights of the people there. Here we report over a decade of work by a consortium of international and national human rights and conservation NGOs, the local communities and the protected areas authority (Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature), to remediate this taking of customary rights. Starting in 2008 these partners began a participatory process with all 550 villages within and around the boundary of the Reserve. Using a community resource use mapping approach, developed from best practices, the team helped communities determine the boundary of the Reserve, and then pilot participatory zoning to identify zones for settlements, agriculture, hunting, gathering of non-timber forest products, and conservation. This process secured the customary rights of long-term residents in the Reserve and protected their lands from being taken by non-rights holders. As a result of this work the use rights of communities were largely restored and the communities agreed on 23 June 2016 to formalize the boundaries of the renamed Itombwe Nature Reserve.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo artisanal and small-scale mining is estimated to provide a source of livelihood for 14–16% of the population, or 8–10 million people. In the eastern part of the country it is one of the main threats to large mammal species and their habitats, including forest elephants Loxodonta cyclotis and great apes, such as the Critically Endangered Grauer's gorilla Gorilla beringei graueri and the Endangered eastern chimpanzee Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii. We used semi-structured questionnaires to survey mining communities in and around Kahuzi–Biega National Park and the Itombwe Nature Reserve to understand better the socio-economics of artisanal mining in the region, as well as the impacts of mining on bushmeat hunting. Minerals exploited at the sites surveyed included cassiterite, gold, coltan and wolframite, and most mines were controlled by armed groups. On average, miners earned significantly higher revenue than non-miners. However, mining was seen as a short-term activity and most miners were in favour of leaving the sector for better opportunities. Almost all respondents stated openly that they consumed bushmeat regularly because of the lack of alternatives and believed that bushmeat hunting had caused declines and local extinctions of some large mammal populations, including great apes. Respondents stated they would reduce their consumption of bushmeat if domestic meats became more available. We recommend that future interventions should target mine sites to address bushmeat hunting, by improving access to sustainable meat sources, establishing micro-financing mechanisms to help miners leave the mining sector, and working towards de-militarizing these sites to facilitate law enforcement.

This article explores the methodology and main findings of field studies conducted for the ICRC's Health Care in Danger project in Afghanistan, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 2010 and 2013. It discusses some of the actions that the ICRC takes in its health programmes to facilitate access to health care, and its approach to promoting better respect for the laws protecting it. It then suggests what more needs to be done to curb the violence.

Given the important contribution of urban consumption in bushmeat trade, information on bushmeat sales in urban markets can provide valuable insights for understanding the dynamics of this trade and its implications for conservation and food security. We monitored bushmeat traded in the market of Kisangani (the provincial capital of the Province Orientale in the Democratic Republic of Congo) and compared data collected in surveys in 2002 and 2008–2009. In both periods more than two-thirds of the carcasses sold were of rodents and ungulates. From 2002 to 2008–2009 the number of carcasses increased by 44% but the equivalent biomass by only 16% because of a significant decrease in medium-sized species (10–50 kg) and an increase in small species (<10 kg). The number of carcasses of large species increased between the two periods and those of diurnal monkeys increased fourfold. In both periods smoked bushmeat was one of the cheapest sources of protein available year-round, together with caterpillars, which were only available during the rainy season, and pork. Prices of other domestic meat were significantly higher. This study identified an increase in the market of highly threatened species such as okapi Okapia johnstoni and small diurnal monkeys and the continued presence of protected species, and also highlights the food security role that bushmeat plays for poor urban people who cannot afford alternative sources of protein.