Observations of entomophagy across Benin – practices and potentials

Abstract

Food security is a critical issue for many lowincome countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Appropriately identifying and utilising local resources can provide sustainable solutions to food security problems. Insects, which are traditionally consumed in many regions of the world, represent one such resource. Insects can be nutritionally rich and therefore could be used to address issues of malnutrition. A first step towards utilising insects as a resource is identifying which ones are traditionally consumed. We present data collected between 2005 and 2012 on insects eaten by communities across Benin, West Africa. A combination of literature research, field collections, community focus groups and targeted interviews were employed. Data on four ethnic groups is presented: the Anii, Fon, Nagot and Waama. Twenty-nine arthropods species are eaten across Benin. The predominant orders are Orthoptera (48 %) and Coleoptera (41 %). New families of edible arthropods in West Africa include: Bradyporidae (Orthoptera), Coreidae (Hemiptera), Dytiscidae (Coleoptera), Ixodidae (Acari). Insect collection is an ancestral tradition in all the described communities: however, there are considerable differences in preferences and collection methods among ethnic groups. Currently there is little valorisation of insects as a food product in Benin, in contrast to neighbouring countries. In light of considerable malnutrition in Benin among young children, promoting this tradition and implementing small scale captive rearing of selected species could improve food security.

Consumption patterns of edible insects in rural and urban areas of Zimbabwe: taste, nutritional value and availability are key elements for keeping the insect eating habit

“…The significant (but small) differences in percentage of respondents consuming insects in urban and rural areas can be an indication that entomophagy is not declining in either urban or rural areas in Zimbabwe, as suggested by other authors for other countries (Obopile and Seeletso 2013;Riggi et al 2016). Likewise, the expectation that due to increased migration from rural to urban areas the consumption of traditional foods (under which edible insects are classified) would be abandoned, was not confirmed.…”

“…Differences in preferences and prevalence of consumption of specific species have also been attributed to availability (Niaba et al 2012;Obopile and Seeletso 2013;van van Huis 2013), ethnicity (Chakravorty et al 2011;Obopile and Seeletso 2013;Riggi et al 2016), palatability ) and seasonality (Kinyuru et al Kinyuru et al 2013). Hanboonsong et al (2013) reported different insect eating habits due to availability of different species in different regions.…”

“…A decrease in prevalence of traditional practices of entomophagy has been reported in communities in developing countries where insect consumption used to be common (Dube et al 2013;Meyer-Rochow and Chakravorty 2013;Obopile and Seeletso 2013;Riggi et al 2016;Yen 2009). Reasons for this decrease include adoption of Western foods (Dube et al 2013;Looy et al 2014;Mlcek et al 2014;Obopile and Seeletso 2013;Yen 2009) and decreased knowledge of preparation practices (Riggi et al 2016). Other reported reasons include unavailability of the edible insects (Looy et al 2014), uncontrolled harvesting (Ramos-Elorduy 2006, and loss of habitats leading to extinction of some species (Dube et al 2013;MeyerRochow and Chakravorty 2013).…”

“…Multiple studies stress the importance of documenting traditional knowledge of edible insects to restore and promote entomophagy (Riggi et al 2016; van van Huis 2015;Yen 2009) and to disseminate information to new consumers, especially in urban areas (Gahukar 2011). Traditional communities are well-enriched with local knowledge of the occurrence, methods of collection, processing and consumption (Riggi et al 2016).…”

“…Traditional communities are well-enriched with local knowledge of the occurrence, methods of collection, processing and consumption (Riggi et al 2016).…”