This paper is a case study which aims to examine how today’s techniques related to different livelihood activities, but also in the social field, are acquired and transmitted among Batwa (pygmies) and Ntomba (bantou) communities living in the two villages (Moheli and Wedji in Congolese jungle. The method used is to ask a sample of informants randomly selected if they can do the activity requested, and if so, who showed it to them. Results revealed that Batwa are distinguished Ntomba in activities for which they are recognized as experts and connoisseurs, namely collecting honey, hunting net and spear, collecting wild yams, and the songs of the ceremonies.
The authors notice that the differences, however, explained more by the age and sex of informants by belonging to an ethnic group or residence. The gender differences are similar for the Batwa and Ntomba. However, hunting, honey collection, preparation of palm wine, the felling of trees for the cultivation and construction of houses are more clearly mastered by men than by women in both groups. Young Batwa is unsurpassed the Ntomba in forest-related activities such as hunting spear, shelter construction in the forest, and collecting wild yams and mushrooms. The authors find that the collection still holds today an important place in livelihood behavior of the Batwa, but also for Ntomba, include food.
