Comparative aspects of cricket farming in Thailand, Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya

Abstract

Cricket farming can have a positive impact on rural development and rural economy in low- and middle-income countries. Moreover, crickets have the potential to address food and nutrition insecurity and promote food sovereignty through the promotion of local production and consumption. This paper presents and discusses five complementary studies conducted in Thailand, Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Kenya. Cricket farming is being promoted in these countries under research projects, public-private partnerships, NGOs and international organisations. In the majority of the countries, cricket farming is still in its infancy and research into how to improve cricket farming systems is still on-going. Cricket farming in Cambodia, Lao PDR, DRC and Kenya remains relatively limited, and many farmers are still a part of pilot projects. In each of the five regions, different cricket species have been a part of traditional diets. As discussed in this paper, many of the potential benefits of the production and consumption of crickets have not yet been realised in many cases due to: (1) lack of adequate support and awareness from stakeholders (especially government agencies); (2) unknown trade volumes; (3) high costs of inputs; and (4) cultural taboos. The information presented in this paper will be especially useful to stakeholders from governmental institutions, non-governmental organisations, civil society organisations and research institutions.

Insects Used as Food and Feed: Isn’t That What We All Need?

“…Most people and not just animal lovers would also find the “harvesting” of insects more acceptable than the slaughter of livestock. Finally, the so-called carbon footprint of farmed insects is deemed to be appreciably lower than that of farmed conventional food animals [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 22 ].…”

“…International conferences have begun to focus more and more on edible insects since the XVI International Pacific Science Congress in Seoul in August 1987 and the International Conference on Minilivestock in Beijing in September 1995, and the subsequent book by Maurizio Paoletti [ 14 ] brought this topic to a wider audience. Scientific publications, too many to mention, have appeared in the last 20 years or so, praising the advantages of an insect-based diet over a diet consisting of conventional meats like poultry and especially ruminants and highlighting the environmentally advantageous farming practices for mini-livestock such as insects over those for traditionally farmed animals [ 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Various edible insect species have had their farming potential assessed, their acceptability as a novelty food (or feed in animal husbandry and fish culture) examined, and their potential risk of carrying diseases or undesired microbes scrutinized.…”

Traditional Knowledge of the Utilization of Edible Insects in Nagaland, North-East India

“…However, besides the mentioned three edible insects, there are groups of insects e.g., crickets, giant water bug, water beetles, palm weevil larvae, grasshoppers, etc. that are successfully reared in other parts of the world [38,39]. Nagaland harbours Traditional way of increasing their shelf-life is practiced by the local insect sellers by simply smoking or sun drying the insect species (Figure 10d-f).…”

“…However, besides the mentioned three edible insects, there are groups of insects e.g., crickets, giant water bug, water beetles, palm weevil larvae, grasshoppers, etc. that are successfully reared in other parts of the world [38,39]. Nagaland harbours large number of edible insects such as aquatic bugs and beetles (Cybister limbatus, Cybister tripunctatus lateralis, Lethoceruus indicus, Hydrophilus cashmirensis) bees (Apis cerana indica, Apis dorsata dorsata, Apis dorsata laboriosa, etc.…”

Edible crickets, but which species?

“…In different countries of Asia and Africa, A. domesticus and G. bimaculatus are reared by farmers (Halloran et al, 2018). The advantages of the first include nutritional value, soft tissue, low maintenance, low disease incidence, and the ability to consume a wide variety of foods including organic waste flows.…”