The impact of COVID-19 on public perceptions of wild meat in Central Africa

Wild meat is a significant source of food and income generation in Central Africa. However, there is little knowledge of how the assumed link between COVID-19 and wild meat consumption has been discussed by the media and received by the public. In this study, we conducted media content of 264 articles published in 2019-20 related to wild meat consumption in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Gabon and Republic of the Congo and carried out mobile phone surveys with 3,644 respondents in Cameroon and DRC in 2021; among these who answered the area question, 912 respondents were from villages, 1166 from towns, and 1199 from cities. We found that COVID-19 increased media discussion of wild meat across all three countries since February 2020. Despite the dominant media discourse focusing on disease risk associated with wild meat (61%), over one-third of respondents considered domestically-raised red meat as the riskiest meat. The theory that COVID-19 originated in laboratories was observed both in the media (10%), and among phone survey respondents (7% Cameroonian, 9% DRC respondents). About half (47%) of Cameroonian respondents and one-third (38%) of DRC respondents reported a reduction in wild meat consumption in the surveyed period in 2021 with the most frequent reason being perceived risks of infectious disease. Conversely, some (3% Cameroonian, 32% DRC respondents) increased their wild meat consumption mainly due to the reduced availability of other meats. Our results suggest that COVID-19 brought increased media attention to wild meat consumption and changed public perceptions and stated consumption behaviours related to wild meat consumption in Central Africa. Bans on trading wild meat were widely discussed in the media as a potential policy response to COVID-19, but there was a lack of consensus among respondents that this would be the most appropriate policy: More than half of respondents did not support a ban on wild meat consumption. If policymakers wish to reduce wild meat consumption in Central Africa countries, trustworthy communication strategies and access to alternative food sources will be needed.