An Exploration of Edible Palm Weevil Larvae (Akokono) as a Source of Nutrition and Livelihood: Perspectives From Ghanaian Stakeholders

Abstract

Anticipated barriers to scaling up akokono micro-farming include a need for greater familiarity with and acceptance of the insect as food for infants and young children and creation of a sustainable market. Engagement with stakeholders, including health workers, will facilitate use of akokono as a complementary food.

Nutrient composition of the Indonesian sago grub (Rhynchophorus bilineatus)

“…Most of the species of palm weevil have already been studied. Among the various species, the following had been profiled: African palm weevil R. phoenicis in Cameroon (Fogang Mba et al 2017;Womeni et al 2009Womeni et al , 2012, Nigeria (Adeyeye 2017;Edijala et al 2009;Ekpo and Onigbinde 2005;Elemo et al 2011;Ogbuagu et al 2011;Okunowo et al 2017;Omotoso and Adedire 2007) and Ghana (Atuahene et al 2017;Laar et al 2017); R. palmarum in Côte d'Ivoire (Dué et al 2009;Gbogouri et al 2013) and Nigeria (Adeyeye 2017), and R. ferrugineus in Egypt (Abdel-Moniem et al 2017) and Malaysia (Ali et al 2006). However, based on the review of available scientific literature, no nutritional information can be found for the species R. bilineatus.…”

The Potential of Insect Farming to Increase Food Security

“…Effects are worse in the populations that already have high rates of malnutrition, such as Zambia, where chronic undernutrition is 45% and causes 52% of deaths in the population under the age of 5. Over 800 million people are thought to have a food energy deficit average of >80 kcal/day/person [3,15].…”

“…To prevent future undernutrition and to decrease current levels, food access and socioeconomic conditions must improve globally [14]. With this climate change-driven prediction of reduced agricultural yields in most countries given current crop practices and varieties, it is therefore necessary to increase the diversity and sustainability of crop supply so that food insecurity is not exacerbated [15].…”

“…Harvesting insects as a by-product of another industry also has substantial potential but needs more widespread implementation and cultural assimilation. For example, domesticated silkworms for the textile industry can be eaten in the pupa stage, and palm weevils reared on felled palm trees could be moved into more formal production [15]. Insect farming is now moving into western markets and developing technologically refined production systems.…”

“…Insects can be a renewable food source in the future as many edible species can consume agricultural and food waste or culinary by-products, but there remain important research gaps in understanding the effects of variable feedstocks as most case studies use high-grade feed [10,15,28]. Such organic side streams could be used to reduce the environmental impact of insect farming while simultaneously creating a novel, circular waste-processing income.…”