The Economist USA 03.21.2020

The EconomistMarch 21st 2020 Middle East & Africa 43

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C

iceronnyalowala’sparentsare

disappointed. Their son took a boat

from their riverside village to the city of

Mbandaka, in the heart of the Congo

Basin rainforest, where he enrolled in a

teacher-training college. They wanted

him to become a crocodile hunter, like

his father and most of his ancestors.

“There is a lot of pressure,” says Mr Nya-

lowala. Hunting for bush meat is pop-

ular—and may pay better than teaching.

However, it harms wildlife in the

rainforest, which spans six countries and

is second in size only to the Amazon.

Around 6m tonnes of bush meat are

thought to come out of the Congo Basin

each year. The number of animals killed

for the pot has been increasing, accord-

ing to a study from 2016 led by Goethe

University Frankfurt. More hunters are

selling their prey in markets, instead of

eating it themselves. The trade has emp-

tied out parts of the forest; 39% of it is at

severe risk of over-hunting, the study

says. Everything from bonobos (an en-

dangered species of ape) to cobras, ante-

lopesand,occasionally,elephants, ap-

pear at market stalls in Mbandaka.

Over-hunting has made life more

dangerous for crocodile hunters. The

number of dwarf crocodiles, once com-

mon in the Congo river, is dwindling. So

hunters have to chase the ferocious Nile

crocodile instead. There are plenty of

those. Their scaly bodies stretch to six

metres and they often kill humans.

Stalkers in canoes go after them at night,

shining a torch while stirring the water.

“The crocodile does not like that,” says

Mr Nyalowala. “He begins to writhe and

then comes to attack.” As the animal

pounces so do its pursuers, spearing it.

A live crocodile fetches more than a

dead one in the markets in Mbandaka, so

hunters bind their jaws and transport

them some 200km downstream in their

canoes. They sell for around $150 each. A

teacher at a state school, by comparison,

earns around $170 a month, though

many did not get paid at all last year. No

wonder Mr Nyalowala’s parents wanted

him to follow in his father’s footsteps.

A crocodile-hunter’stears

The Democratic Republic of Congo

MBANDAKA

Hunters are hurting the rainforest, but they have few options

Pays better than teaching

revolution” that advocates say is necessary

to tailor future policies. All but five African

countries have ratified the Convention on

the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,

which pledges them to ensure broad legal

equality for the disabled.

No country stands out as a model.

Policymakers often fret that providing for

disabled people will be expensive and con-

sume scarce resources. But some solutions

that do not cost much can make a big im-

pact. Health centres, for example, could

start by installing wider doorways, adjust-

able beds and ramps. And health and edu-

cation departments could do a far better

job of teaching their own staff about the sex

lives of the disabled, even if it may take

time to remove social stigmas and correct

horrific misapprehensions, such as that

rape is a cure for hiv. 7

F

or centuriesthe adhan, the Muslim

call to prayer, has been a changeless fea-

ture of life in the Arab world. In war or

peace, prosperity or famine, the same

rhythmic chant echoes across cities and

towns five times each day. Midway through

comes an exhortation to worship. But on

March 13th a muezzin in Kuwait, his voice

plainly cracking with emotion, made a

small tweak. Instead of “hayya alas-salah”

(come to prayer), he told the faithful “as-sa-

latu fi buyutikum” (pray in your homes).

Words that seemed immutable were no

longer such.

Covid-19 has already disrupted eco-

nomic and social life. Across the Middle

East it is also changing ancient patterns of

worship. There is scriptural precedent for

stopping Friday prayers: for example, an

uncle of the Prophet Muhammad is said to

have urged followers to stay at home dur-

ing foul weather. But Kuwaitis say this is

the first time in their modern history that

prayers were cancelled.

Other countries are following suit.

Egypt, the most populous Arab country,

first capped Friday sermons at 15 minutes.

Then al-Azhar, the Sunni world’s most

prestigious scholarly centre, decreed that

they could be halted altogether to stop the

virus from spreading. The United Arab

Emirates stopped them on March 18th. Je-

rusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque has been closed

indefinitely, though worshippers still

gather on the large esplanade outside.

The scene is even more striking in Mec-

ca, the spiritual centre of the Muslim

world. In normal times the city’s grand

mosque is a teeming mass of humanity,

filled day and night with thousands of pil-

grims circumambulating the Kaaba, the

imposing granite cube that is Islam’s holi-

est site. On March 4th, though, the authori-

ties in Saudi Arabia suspended the umrah, a

pilgrimage that occurs year-round. As-

tounded Saudis swapped photos of the

mosque’s white-marble plaza, glittering in

the sun—and deserted, save for a few work-

ers spraying disinfectant.

Younger Saudis could not recall ever

seeing it so empty; older ones drew a paral-

lel with 1979, when the mosque was seized

by extremists and besieged for two weeks.

The government has not made any deci-

sion about the annual haj pilgrimage,

which should begin in late July. Cancelling

it would be a blow both spiritual and finan-

cial: it attracts millions of people and con-

BEIRUT

Closed mosques, shorter sermons and

holy hand sanitiser

Coping with covid-19

Prayer in a

pandemic