DRC, FAO have the answer to fight hunger: edible insect farming

THERE is no shortage of protein in Kinshasa’s Gambela Market, from cows to antelope and snakes. But it is the blue and silver bowls brimming with twitching crickets, termites and slithering mealworms that do the briskest trade.

Experts hope that the love of edible insects in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) may hold the key to tackling widespread hunger among its roughly 65 million people by scaling up a millennia-old consumption habit.

Six-and-a-half million people live in food insecurity in the giant central African country, according to the World Food Programme (WFP), largely due to low agricultural productivity and persistent violence in its volatile east.

Edible insects, which are just starting to win acceptance in the West, have long been one of the DRC’s most popular dishes. Often served as bar food or on special occasions, they are grilled and commonly served with hot pepper, lemon and onions.

Caterpillar

The average household in the capital Kinshasa consumes about 300 grams of caterpillar a week, according to a UN study, but insect supplies can be seasonal and are generally more expensive than other types of food.

In Kinshasa a kilogramme of crickets costs about $50 (about R620), more than twice the price of beef.

The DRC’s environment ministry and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) hope to capitalise on the DRC’s affinity for the crunchy fare with a new programme to promote insect cultivation, a plan that could make them more widely available and bring down prices.

The project, due to begin in October, will train two hundred people – most of them women – in western DRC to cultivate caterpillars and crickets. Laurent Kikeba, who oversees the project for the FAO, said it would be the first of its kind in the world.

A national centre to promote insect harvesting will be launched and the FAO will work with the government to craft legal norms to regulate the sector. Though the FAO estimated that Congolese consumed 14 000 tons of insects a year, Kikeba said there were no farms specifically dedicated to raising them.

Digging deep

Instead, they are collected by hacking down trees or digging deep into the soil.

Kikeba said year-round farming could increase production, currently limited by seasonal variations in the availability of different species.

“For the fight against malnutrition, this is an ideal food,” said Paul Monzambe, a professor of agronomy at the National Pedagogic University (UPN) in Kinshasa, who is collaborating on the project. “The crisis is such that we must think now of all possible approaches.”

In a 2013 report, the FAO hailed insect cultivation as a practical and environmentally-friendly tool to boost food production as supply struggles to keep pace with global population growth. – Reuters