There is no doubt about the nutritional value and environmental impact of edible insects; they are a good substitute for source of protein. However, incorporating them in the human daily diets requires an intense change in mentality of youth in Kenya. People’s attitude towards a food product is important when it comes to its acceptance. Therefore, the aim of the research was to explore the perception and attitude of young people in Kenya on the utilization of insects as food and feed. The findings showed that Kenyan youth have a neutral to a possible positive perception and attitude regarding the use of edible insects as food and feed. The findings of a logistic regression analysis show that education level is associated with low likelihood of consuming and using insects as livestock feed. The perceived benefits, feelings and intentions were also associated with low probability of insects consumption and use as livestock feed. However, 79.9% of respondents were willing to incorporate insects in their food diets and 75.6% were willing to use them as a source of income.
The utilization of edible insects as food and feed is not a new concept, it is a practice that has been part of the tradition of many communities around the world. They have been primarily used as supplementary food in most African countries. However, there has been a significant decline in the consumption of insects over the years, especially among young people. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the knowledge on entomophagy and the utilization of insects among the youth. The study revealed that the majority of youth had limited knowledge about consumption, nutrition, harvesting, preparation and use of edible insects as livestock feed. From the Chi-square analysis it was observed that age and education level have a significant relationship to the familiarity of consumption of edible insects, P=0.014 and P=0.009 respectively. The results also show that there is a significant association between awareness on the nutritional value of insects with age and education level, P=0.001 and P=0.009 respectively. Logistic regression analysis was used to find the association between demographic characteristics, knowledge and the utilization of edible insects. The results revealed that education level, age and knowledge have an impact on the utilization of edible insects. Lack of knowledge contribute to the unwillingness of youth to consume insects. It is noticeable that indigenous knowledge on entomophagy is slowly disappearing with the shift in eating habits and changes in the socio-economic environments. As such, it is imperative that indigenous knowledge is preserved and educational interventions are done to raise awareness on the benefits of entomophagy in order to improve the utilization of insects among the youth.
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