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 Experts hope that the love of edible insects in Democratic Republic
of Congo 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 Program (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 Congo'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.
"This is the main food of Congolese," said Marie-Colette Bena, who
sells clothing at the market, "I'm proud to eat that food."
The average household in the capital Kinshasa consumes about 300
grams of caterpillar a week, according to a U.N. study but insect
supplies can be seasonal and are generally more expensive than other
types of food.
In Kinshasa a kilogram of crickets costs about $50, more than twice
the price of beef.
Congo's environment ministry and the U.N. Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) hope to capitalize on Congo's affinity for the
crunchy fare with a new program 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 Congo 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 center to promote insect harvesting will be launched and
the FAO will work with the government to craft legal norms to
regulate the sector.
IDEAL FOOD
Though the FAO estimates that Congolese consume 14,000 tonnes of
insects each year, Kikeba said there are no farms specifically
dedicated to raising them. Instead, they are collected by hacking
down trees or digging deep into the soil.
Kikeba said that year-round farming could dramatically increase
production, currently limited by seasonal variations in the
availability of different species.
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"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.
The report notes insects are bountiful, widely consumed and contain
high levels of protein, fat, vitamins, fiber and minerals. They tend
to require less feed and yield more meat per kilogram than
traditional protein sources.
Insects can also be raised in confined spaces with little capital
investment, lowering barriers to entry for women, who struggle to
access land and credit, the report said.
Increased production should start to drive down prices, allowing
Congolese to consume more of their preferred delicacies. That’s
music to Monzambe's ears.
"I am a huge consumer," he laughs. "I can't go a week without eating
them!"
(Additional reporting by Media Coulibaly; Editing by Daniel Flynn
and Anna Willard)
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