IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ssefpa/v8y2016i1d10.1007_s12571-015-0509-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Observations of entomophagy across Benin – practices and potentials

Author

Listed:
  • L. G. Riggi

    (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU))

  • M. Veronesi

    (Building and Social Housing Foundation (BSHF))

  • G. Goergen

    (Biodiversity Centre)

  • C. MacFarlane

    (Bugs for Life, Charity)

  • R. L. Verspoor

    (University of Liverpool)

Abstract

Food security is a critical issue for many low-income countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Appropriately identifying and utilising local resources can provide sustainable solutions to food security problems. Insects, which are traditionally consumed in many regions of the world, represent one such resource. Insects can be nutritionally rich and therefore could be used to address issues of malnutrition. A first step towards utilising insects as a resource is identifying which ones are traditionally consumed. We present data collected between 2005 and 2012 on insects eaten by communities across Benin, West Africa. A combination of literature research, field collections, community focus groups and targeted interviews were employed. Data on four ethnic groups is presented: the Anii, Fon, Nagot and Waama. Twenty-nine arthropods species are eaten across Benin. The predominant orders are Orthoptera (48 %) and Coleoptera (41 %). New families of edible arthropods in West Africa include: Bradyporidae (Orthoptera), Coreidae (Hemiptera), Dytiscidae (Coleoptera), Ixodidae (Acari). Insect collection is an ancestral tradition in all the described communities: however, there are considerable differences in preferences and collection methods among ethnic groups. Currently there is little valorisation of insects as a food product in Benin, in contrast to neighbouring countries. In light of considerable malnutrition in Benin among young children, promoting this tradition and implementing small scale captive rearing of selected species could improve food security.

Suggested Citation

  • L. G. Riggi & M. Veronesi & G. Goergen & C. MacFarlane & R. L. Verspoor, 2016. "Observations of entomophagy across Benin – practices and potentials," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(1), pages 139-149, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:8:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1007_s12571-015-0509-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s12571-015-0509-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12571-015-0509-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12571-015-0509-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Premalatha, M. & Abbasi, Tasneem & Abbasi, Tabassum & Abbasi, S.A., 2011. "Energy-efficient food production to reduce global warming and ecodegradation: The use of edible insects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(9), pages 4357-4360.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Faith A. Manditsera & Catriona M. M. Lakemond & Vincenzo Fogliano & Cuthbert J. Zvidzai & Pieternel A. Luning, 2018. "Consumption patterns of edible insects in rural and urban areas of Zimbabwe: taste, nutritional value and availability are key elements for keeping the insect eating habit," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(3), pages 561-570, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Eili Skrivervik, 2018. "The Bioeconomy and Food Waste: Insects’ Contribution," Working Papers on Innovation Studies 20181021, Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo.
    2. Lorenzo A. Cadinu & Paolo Barra & Francesco Torre & Francesco Delogu & Fabio A. Madau, 2020. "Insect Rearing: Potential, Challenges, and Circularity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-23, June.
    3. Fabio A. Madau & Brunella Arru & Roberto Furesi & Pietro Pulina, 2020. "Insect Farming for Feed and Food Production from a Circular Business Model Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-15, July.
    4. Marie Borkovcová & Jiří Mlček & Anna Adámková & Martin Adámek & Martina Bednářová & Zuzana Musilová & Veronika Ševčíková, 2022. "Use of Foods Based on Bee Drone Brood: Their Sensory and Microbiological Evaluation and Mineral Composition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-13, February.
    5. Anna Bordiean & Michał Krzyżaniak & Mariusz J. Stolarski & Stanisław Czachorowski & Dumitru Peni, 2020. "Will Yellow Mealworm Become a Source of Safe Proteins for Europe?," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-30, June.
    6. Aikaterini Paltaki & Anastasios Michailidis & Fotios Chatzitheodoridis & Konstantinos Zaralis & Efstratios Loizou, 2021. "Bioeconomy and Livestock Production Nexus: A Bibliometric Network Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-12, November.
    7. L. Riggi & M. Veronesi & G. Goergen & C. MacFarlane & R. Verspoor, 2016. "Observations of entomophagy across Benin – practices and potentials," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(1), pages 139-149, February.
    8. Massimiliano Borrello & Francesco Caracciolo & Alessia Lombardi & Stefano Pascucci & Luigi Cembalo, 2017. "Consumers’ Perspective on Circular Economy Strategy for Reducing Food Waste," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-18, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:8:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1007_s12571-015-0509-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.