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The impact of cricket farming on rural livelihoods, nutrition and the environment in Thailand and Kenya
... Research into livelihoods in many impoverished areas of Africa (Ashiru 1988;Dovie et al. 2002;Egan 2013;Halloran 2017), Asia (Megu et al. 2018;Halloran et al. 2016), Central and South America (Van Itterbeeck and Van Huis 2012) and Australia (Van Huis et al. 2013) highlights the importance of entomophagy as a prominent ecosystem service on which agroforestry could capitalize. Indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) contain knowledge acquired over generations on locating, preparing and sustainably harvesting edible insects. ...
Worldwide, agroforestry has been shown to provide farmers and communities with a range of direct services such as food, livestock feed, wood and medicine as well as indirect ecosystem services such as pollination, pest and weed control, and soil formation and enrichment. These multiple benefits suggest that woody perennials, such as trees and shrubs, could contribute to a regenerative agricultural landscape that lessens poverty and malnutrition in marginalized communities. In this chapter we review beneficial insects and their ecological significance in human-modified landscapes. Insects should not be written-off as insect pest species by the education, agricultural or policy sectors. Rather, the ecosystem services provided by beneficial insects and their associated habitat should be left intact in agricultural and urban settings. In the case of insects that are both beneficial and harmful to food production, their promotion as food to areas where insect cuisine is unknown in conjunction with sustainable farming methods should be considered.
... Thailand it is an economic activity for the rural populace ( Halloran et al., 2017). Further still, consuming these insects might just be the panacea to the persistent malnutrition and food security especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, thereby improving the livelihoods of these populace. ...
Optimization of cricket production through analysis of housing and feed effects on growth and subsequently analyzing its technical production efficiency.
Crickets require fewer inputs like water and feed but provide higher output per cubic unit of agricultural land compared to other livestock. They also contain important macro and micronutrients and therefore have potential to enhance a sustainable food and nutrition security for vulnerable families. Social-cultural systems and economic situations may shape the adoption of crickets as a mini-livestock among rural farm families in Kenya. An understanding of the socio-economic characteristics of practicing farmers in Kenya will enhance an understanding of the factors that shape the adoption of crickets as a mini-livestock among rural farm families and promote sustainable cricket production models in Kenya. This study determined the socio-economic status of cricket farmers in the Lake Victoria region of Kenya. Purposive sampling technique was used to select practicing cricket farmers. Data on age, income levels, and cricket farming experience, education, household size, land size and ownership was collected from interviews, focus group discussions and personal observations. Qualitative data on the socio-economic characteristics of cricket farmers were transcribed, coded, and analysed for emerging issues. The study results showed that the majority (71%), of the cricket farmers were females who were between the ages 30 and 49 years of age, had four years of experience in cricket farming and with secondary-level and primary education. The average household size of cricket farmers was 5–6 individuals. The cricket farmers also engaged in small-scale crop and livestock production with an average monthly income of approximately USD50. The study concludes that variations in socio-economic factors as well as socio-cultural insights affect the cricket farmer’s ability to uniformly adopt cricket farming innovations for optimised cricket production. The findings of this study should be considered during the implementation of strategies to upscale cricket farming in the Lake Victoria region of Kenya as well as in the rest of the country. More specifically, strategies as subsidized training, and a more comprehensive sensitization and follow-up to encourage more men into the venture, are required.
Children in Kenya are at risk of undernutrition. Milk powder is the ‘golden standard’ in products to prevent undernutrition but is expensive and cannot be produced locally. House crickets (Acheta domesticus) are rich in nutrients important for growth and development. The cricket biscuit contains protein, unsaturated fatty acids, vitamin A and B12, iron, and zinc. Furthermore, cricket powder can be an economically better substitute for milk powder and can create revenue for the local population. Including crickets in products for school feeding could optimise growth and learning. The objective of the study was to develop a recipe for cricket biscuits suitable for school feeding programmes and test acceptability of the biscuits in Kenyan schoolchildren, in comparison with a similar biscuit with milk. The study was randomised and parallel. Fifty-four children aged 5-10 years were served 100 g (range 98-102 g) biscuits containing either 10% cricket powder or 10% milk powder during school days for four weeks. ...
Background
When food is available, the main obstacle to access is usually economic: people may not be able to afford a nutritious diet, even if they know what foods to eat. The Cost of the Diet method and software was developed to apply linear programming to better understand the extent to which poverty may affect people’s ability to meet their nutritional specifications. This paper describes the principles of the method; the mathematics underlying the linear programming; the parameters and assumptions on which the calculations are based; and then illustrates the output of the software using examples taken from assessments. ResultsThe software contains five databases: the energy and nutrient content of foods; the energy and nutrient specifications of individuals; predefined groups of individuals in typical households; the portion sizes of foods; and currency conversion factors. Data are collected during a market survey to calculate the average cost of foods per 100 g while focus group discussions are used to assess local dietary habits and preferences. These data are presented to a linear programming solver within the software which selects the least expensive combination of local foods for four standard diets that meet specifications for: energy only; energy and macronutrients; energy, macronutrients and micronutrients; and energy, macronutrients and micronutrients but with constraints on the amounts per meal that are consistent with typical dietary habits. Most parameters in the software can be modified by users to examine the potential impact of a wide range of theoretical interventions. The output summarises for each diet the costs, quantity and proportion of energy and nutrient specifications provided by all the foods selected for a given individual or household by day, week, season and year. When the cost is expressed as a percentage of income, the affordability of the diet can be estimated. Conclusions
The Cost of the Diet method and software could be used to inform programme design and behaviour change communication in the fields of nutrition, food security, livelihoods and social protection as well as to influence policies and advocacy debates on the financial cost of meeting energy and nutrient specifications.
Background
Sub-Saharan Africa currently has the highest prevalence of malnutrition worldwide. In children under the age of 5 years, malnutrition can have long-term effects on physical and cognitive development, with implications at the national scale. Theoretically, livestock-based interventions are well placed to overcome constraints faced by micronutrient and/or food-based interventions. However, there is limited empirical evidence to support this hypothesis.
Methods
This study utilised agriculture, nutrition and anthropometry data from the Millennium Villages Project to investigate relationships between livestock ownership, animal source foods (ASF) consumption and child nutritional outcomes across seven rural village clusters in Sub-Saharan Africa. Village clusters were located in different agro-ecological zones and included: Bonsaaso, Ghana; Mayange, Rwanda; Mwandama, Malawi; Tiby, Mali; Pampaida, Nigeria; Potou, Senegal; and Ruhiira, Uganda. Data from 1624 households (including 1543 children) were included in the analysis.
Results
Overall, the proportion of children with stunting, underweight or wasting across the seven village clusters was 40, 18 and 5%, respectively. Livestock ownership, ASF consumption and child nutritional outcomes varied between village clusters. Households that owned livestock were generally more likely to consume associated ASF. For example, the proportion of households that consumed milk was higher in households that owned cows compared to those that did not in Pampaida, Mayange and Ruhiira (P < 0.05), while poultry meat consumption was generally higher in poultry-keeping households in Mayange and Ruhiira (P < 0.05). The relationship between ASF consumption and anthropometric measurements was complex, ranging from positively to negatively associated depending on the food commodity and village cluster. For instance, in Ruhiira, the mean weight-for-age Z score (WAZ) was significantly higher (better) in children from households that consumed eggs in the last 30 days, while in Potou, mean WAZ was significantly lower (worse) in children from households that consumed eggs in the last 30 days (P < 0.05).
Conclusions
This study contributes to the growing body of research that investigates the relationships between livestock ownership, ASF consumption and nutritional outcomes in children. Our results reveal complex patterns that vary across agro-ecological zones. More research is needed to assess seasonal variations in these factors, effects of gender roles on intra-household distribution of ASF, as well as effects of zoonotic food-borne diseases on nutritional status of children in these sites.
The present opinion has the format of a risk profile and presents potential biological and chemical hazards as well as allergenicity and environmental hazards associated with farmed insects used as food and feed taking into account of the entire chain, from farming to the final product. The opinion also addresses the occurrence of these hazards in non-processed insects, grown on different substrate categories, in comparison to the occurrence of these hazards in other non-processed sources of protein of animal origin. When currently allowed feed materials are used as substrate to feed insects, the possible occurrence of microbiological hazards is expected to be comparable to their occurrence in other non-processed sources of protein of animal origin. The possible occurrence of prions in non-processed insects will depend on whether the substrate includes protein of human or ruminant origin. Data on transfer of chemical contaminants from different substrates to the insects are very limited. Substrates like kitchen waste, human and animal manure are also considered and hazards from insects fed on these substrates need to be specifically assessed. It is concluded that for both biological and chemical hazards, the specific production methods, the substrate used, the stage of harvest, the insect species and developmental stage, as well as the methods for further processing will all have an impact on the occurrence and levels of biological and chemical contaminants in food and feed products derived from insects. Hazards related to the environment are expected to be comparable to other animal production systems. The opinion also identifies the uncertainties (lack of knowledge) related to possible hazards when insects are used as food and feed and notes that there are no systematically collected data on animal and human consumption of insects. Studies on the occurrence of microbial pathogens of vertebrates as well as published data on hazardous chemicals in reared insects are scarce. Further data generation on these issues are highly recommended.
Provision of a snack at school could help alleviate the micronutrient malnutrition that is common among schoolchildren in developing countries. The Child Nutrition Project was designed to compare the efficacy of three school snacks in improving growth and cognitive function of children in rural Kenya. The snacks provided ∼20% of the children's energy requirement, and were composed of equicaloric portions of githeri (a vegetable stew) alone (Energy group), githeri plus milk (Milk group) or githeri plus meat (Meat group). A fourth group of children served as Controls. When nutrient intakes from three, 24-h dietary recalls collected before feeding were compared to three, 24-h recalls conducted after feeding began, intakes of vitamin B-12, riboflavin, vitamin A and calcium increased more in the Milk group than in the Control group, whereas intakes of vitamin B-12, vitamin A, calcium, available iron and available zinc increased more than those of Controls for children in the Meat group. At most of the time points examined, total energy intake increased more for the Meat group than for the other two feeding groups, because the additional energy provided by the Milk and Energy snacks was partially balanced by a decrease in the energy content of foods consumed at home. This decrease did not occur to the same extent for the Meat group, so both dietary quantity and dietary quality improved. For the Milk group, only dietary quality improved. For the Energy group, there were no significant changes in the total day's diet compared to the Control group.
Growing global food demand has generated a greater interest in the consumption of new and diversified protein sources. Novel foodstuffs represent a challenge for food law as they need proper safety assessments before obtaining market permission. The case of edible insects and European law is a good representation of this issue because a selection of food grade insect species may be available on the European market in the coming years. However, European legislation does not explicitly address edible insects. Consequently, this has left a grey area, allowing different interpretations of the legislation among Member States. The aim of this paper is to analyse the challenge of the safe management of edible insects in the context of the current legal framework. The current Novel Food legislation, as well as the forthcoming version of the legislation, will be analysed and discussed in relation to edible insects. Particular attention will be paid to the evolution of legislation and to the experiences of both EU and non-EU countries. In recent years, a number of different stakeholders have supported the legalization of edible insect consumption in Europe, but market permission is just the first step towards a new framework for a novel food in a regulatory context. Once admitted, edible insects require proper rules to assure consumers and stakeholders of their benefits and safety. This overview highlights the need to develop clearer legislation to govern the future production and consumption of new food in Europe, provide guarantees to producers, and achieve consumer protection.
Achieving food security in an environmentally sustainable manner is one of the biggest challenges of our time. Using insects as food can serve this purpose because they are nutritionally valuable and environmentally friendly. Embracing insects as food requires information on potential consumer demand as this would determine the success of product development. In this study, we present one of the first thorough assessments of consumer demand for an insect-based food. We assessed the demand in terms of Kenyan consumer preferences and willingness to pay for buns containing varying amounts of cricket flour. We also assessed demand by predicting the market share in a presumed market scenario. The study used an incentivized discrete choice experiment integrated with sensory evaluations. This was intended to reduce any hypothetical bias and to allow participants to acquire experience by tasting the buns. We find significant and positive preferences for the cricket-flour-based buns. The bun products with medium amounts (5 %) of cricket flour were preferred to no or high amounts (10 %) of cricket flour. The market share predictions showed that the cricket-flour-based buns were likely to obtain greater market shares than standard buns. Results suggest that a market for breads made with cricket flour is likely in Kenya since the demand is present. This signals that insect-based food products may serve as a viable and demand-driven way to increase food security in Kenya in the future.
This article reviews research that has been done on the information needs and information-seeking behavior of indigenous people in developing countries. The paper focuses on two types of user groups: urban dwellers and rural dwellers. By comparing their information-seeking behavior, conclusions about human information behavior in the developing world, as well as key factors that play a role in their information needs and behavior, are drawn. Findings reveal that, while a weak economy has a profound effect on the availability and accessibility of resources, the information and communication divide is not defined as much by the economic status of a geographic location as it is by an individual user's educational background.