Socio-economic perception of snail meat consumption in Fako division, south-west region Cameroon

Abstract

Cameroon southwest region offers favorable climatic conditions for survival of land snails whose meat is known for their nutritional benefits. Besides, conventional livestock (beef, chicken, etc.) cannot satisfy the high demand in Cameroon. Hence, snail meat could be suitable alternative source of protein. Therefore, this article investigated the perception and identified the main determinants of land snail meat consumption in the Fako division (south-west region Cameroon). A multistage random sampling method was used to select a total of 211 respondents. Descriptive statistics has highlighted that snail meat is quite consumed in Fako with 76.30% of respondents. Majority of respondents where Christians (95.26%) and have their origin from southwest region (56.40%). Additionally, regression analysis has pointed out that snail meat consumption depends on marital status, household size, income, snail origin and religion. The amount of snail meat consumed was shown to be influenced by its price and price variation between seasons. At the end of this study, two recommendations were made: snail farming should be increased in order to reduce scarcity of snail during dry season as well as its price and educate the people coming from other region of Cameroon on the nutritional benefits of snail meat.

Snail Meat Consumption in Buea, Cameroon: The Methodological Challenges in Exploring Its Public Health Risks

“…It is a period of snail reproduction and abundant availability compared to the dry season, that is, November to February (Kaldjob et al, 2019; Ndah et al, 2017). During this period, snail collectors could be heard and seen at night actively picking snails, and roadsides are filled with snail hawkers (Kaldjob et al, 2019; Ndah et al, 2017). We needed to walk with collectors to these sites, which are slippery and muddy due to heavy downpours, and in most cases, sites are only accessible with torches.“We use very good and shining torches to pick snails; places are very dark, if you do not use a torch that the light is good, you will not see snails” (snail collector)…”

“…Four main motivations guided our choice of Buea: (1) snail meat consumption is ancestral and culturally embedded; (2) Buea’s agro-climatic characteristics favors a productive survival of snails (Miegoue et al, 2019; Ndah et al, 2017); (3) the availability of snail collectors, mobile and stationed snail meat vendors and consumers (Kaldjob et al, 2019; Ndah et al, 2017); and (4) the researcher has a deep knowledge of the locality under study through lived experience. After brainstorming with the researcher’s family members, friends, and neighbors, we selected specific fieldwork locations (Mile 17 Motor Park, streets and markets in Molyko, Buea town, Muea, Bomaka, Mile 16, Sandpit, Small and Great Soppo, participants’ homes and farms).…”

Proximate composition, microbiological quality and presence of total aflatoxins and aflatoxin B1 in the flesh of three snails’ species (Achatina achatina, Achatina fulica and Archachatina marginata) from a selected locality of Yaoundé, Cameroon

“…Based on this observation, we hypothesize a modification of the safety issue of snail meat traditionally reared in Cameroon as a result of the change in the feeding pattern. Studies performed in Cameroon regarding snail meat concerned only their domestication and their large-scale production ( Ndah et al., 2017 ; Kaldjob et al., 2019 ; Miegoue et al., 2019 ). To the best of our knowledge, none of these studies deals with their microbiological quality and their possible contamination with microbial toxins such as mycotoxins.…”

Meat Production and Consumption Trends on the Western Highlands of Cameroon: evidence from the Menoua

“…A great deal of studies is available on meat production and consumption trends (Kaldjob et al, 2019;WFP, 2017;Akinwumi et al, 2011;Ahmed, 2007) but none of such exist in the Menoua. This paper therefore contributes in this same direction by assessing meat production and consumption trends on the Western Highlands of Cameroon, with evidence drawn from the Menoua Division.…”