Britain urges residents of poor countries to eat insects

The UK has been generous in its efforts to support Africans by developing aid projects for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe. These projects encourage villagers to eat … insects, because they are rich in vitamins and minerals. What does the £50,000 initiative taste like?

Edible insects have long been touted as a resource-efficient source of protein that requires less land and water than regular livestock. However, taste and cultural resistance have proven to be stumbling blocks in the spread of the practice in many parts of the world.

In an effort to help raise awareness of the benefits of eating insects, a £50,000 UK aid project to the DRC is including African caterpillars, migratory locusts and black soldier flies on the menu.

The initiative is already underway in the provinces of North and South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where livestock farming is one of the few ways for rural people to earn a living. However, as the population in these regions grows, places for livestock are shrinking, and beef production overloads the water supply.

Twenty-three species of insects are already eaten in the South Kivu region, although they are not cultivated by the Congolese but harvested according to the season. The list of edible insects includes the African palm weevil, weed beetle, termites, and crickets.

The Catholic Overseas Development Agency (Cafod), a charity in England and Wales, hopes that the people of the Congo will grow insects industrially.

However, these are not all initiatives related to eating all kinds of bugs, etc. So, in Zimbabwe, another project is being implemented to use mopane worms in school cereals. The slimy green caterpillars are commonly harvested from vegetation during the rainy season in rural Zimbabwe.

Officials plan to feed “bug porridge” to poor children aged 7 to 11 in the southern city of Gwanda and in the Zimbabwean capital Harare. For this, no less than 300 thousand pounds sterling has been allocated from the budget. The initiators of the project claim that such porridge has the main advantage – the beetles used to prepare an unforgettable dish are rich in all important vitamins and minerals. In particular, they contain phosphorus, potassium, iron, copper, zinc, manganese, sodium, vitamins B1 and B2, and niacin.

Project leader Dr. Alberto Fiore, professor of food chemistry and technology at Abertay University in Dundee, says Zimbabweans are heavily dependent on maize. And it is low in protein, essential minerals and amino acids, as well as fatty acids.

Dr. Fiore even shared an important item in his program. Mopane worms, grown on a local farm, go well with cereals and fruits that do not need to be imported. In modern times, when products from abroad are becoming less and less available, this is a huge advantage, says the professor.

The doctor did not share a detailed recipe for dishes from unusual ingredients, but confidently stated that it would be delicious, since his research team conducted taste tests in Scotland. Test details were also not given.

But the project is not limited to the preparation of gourmet dishes based on beetles and worms. This is just the first step in a larger study. Scientists will also analyze whether the performance of children who eat such porridge for breakfast will increase. The change in the weight of the guys will also be taken into account.

Dr Sarah Beynon, an academic entomologist and founder of a beetle farm in Pembrokeshire, Wales, says aid projects promoting edible insects are “a surefire way to save lives and improve nutrition for the poorest people on planet Earth.”

In addition, she noted that the initiators “are actively encouraging people in developed countries to include insects in their diet.”

“With a population whose appetite exceeds planetary limits, and with the current agriculture destroying biodiversity and changing the climate, we have no choice but to change how we produce and consume food … and our views on this subject too,” – Beynon emphasized.

It is noted that both assistance projects were funded through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), an independent organization of the Ministry of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

A spokesman for the organization comments on project funding: “We support specific research projects with funding, but we expect that the knowledge gained will benefit citizens around the world, regardless of their economic status. The protein and environmental benefits of eating insects are well known around the world.”