people to eat insects. Urban dwellers, however, said they are more motivated to consume insects because of the insects’ nutritional value and medicinal properties. Greater availability of edible insects was related to greater insect consumption in both urban and rural areas. There are no commonly shared factors determining insect consumption within Africa’s rural areas. Even rural Sub-Saharan African ethnic groups living within geographic proximity to each other exhibit different preferences for wild harvested insects and consider consuming certain species taboo (Kelemu et al. 2015). In some cases, insect consumption is partly driven by economic and dietary necessities. In Zimbabwe, for example, there is a clear pattern that when there is a lean period, or a period with low harvests and food shortages, insect availability and consumption increase (see table 4.1 for details on the insect harvest and consumption schedule). African urban markets have nuanced demands for edible insects. In Zambia, for example, certain types of wild harvested insects—such as Coleoptera (beetle), Hemiptera (cicadas), and Hymenoptera (edible bee larvae)—are less desirable in urban markets because they are consumed by the “lower class and physical laborers” (Stull et al. 2018). By contrast, certain insects—such as Isoptera (termites, locally referred to as inswa) and Lepidoptera (caterpillars, locally referred to as vinkubala)—are considered a “delicacy” and consumed by the “upper class” and white-collar workers. As a result, these insects are in higher demand and command higher prices in urban markets (figure 4.4).
TABLE 4.1 Calendar for Crop and Wild Insect Harvesting in Zimbabwe and Description of When Consumption Occurs Month J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Crop Maize Sorghum Wheat Insect Mopane worm Flying termites Giant jewel beetle Stink bug Cicada Black ant (Continued)
Mainstreaming Insect Farming
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