in Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp, 2016

from non-insect-eating communities.” Many observers describe entomophagy as highly exotic despite the historical use of insects in traditional diets for centuries. As a result, insect consumption is uncommon in many modern societies. That said, studies from Kenya show that consumers are willing to pay for insect-based products (Alemu and Olsen 2018). Another study from Benin shows that consumers are willing to pay more for fish that have been fed insect meal than fish that have been fed soybean or fishmeal (Pomalégni et al. 2018). Another study showed that most Ethiopians would eat cookies containing insect components but only 11 percent of Ethiopians would be willing to eat whole insects (Ghosh et al. 2019). A study in Burundi found that many people did not know that crickets are edible. However, when researchers told them that crickets could be eaten, respondents expressed an interest in consuming them. This is because other insect species, like termites and grasshoppers, are a part of Burundi’s traditional food culture (TNO 2019). In the same study, urban consumers said they would be willing to pay from US$0.42 in Makamba to US$0.85 in Bujumbura for 250 milliliters of crickets. Another study found that the willingness to taste cricket products varied among nationalities and ethnic groups in the Kakuma refugee camp (table 3.1).

TABLE 3.1 Willingness to Taste a Cricket Product among Nationalities

in Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp, 2016

Country Ethnicity Ratio of previous insect eaters to all respondents Refusal rate (those unwilling to consume insects) Comments

south sudan

dinka 1:15 53% insect consumption was virtually absent among the dinka. sudan nuba 10:10 0% All the nuba had eaten roasted grasshoppers as part of their diet.

somalia darod, hawiye, rahanweyn, and somali bantus 0:27 48% no previous insect consumption was mentioned by any respondent.

democratic republic of Congo

bembe 3:7 0% rural respondents said insects were a part of their diets, but no urban respondents said the same. grasshoppers were the most commonly consumed species. kenya turkana 6:26 15% Crickets were eaten by the poorest households, especially during famine periods when no other foods were available.

Source: Naukkarinen 2016.