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Conservation of Edible Insects in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Edible Insects in Sustainable Food Systems

Abstract

Throughout sub-Saharan Africa wild-sourced foods, like edible insects, have been a way of life improving nutrition and providing a potential source of income. Unfortunately, natural areas are increasingly altered as time progresses through natural and anthropogenic factors that directly or indirectly alter ecosystems. Previously sacred places that were no-go areas or required special permission to access inadvertently served as havens for biodiversity. Cultural values and beliefs have informed methods of harvesting from nature. In the case of the edible stink bug Encosternum delegorguei some communities are focussed on short-term gains and harvest unsustainably by felling trees while others are implementing adaptive management. South Africa seems to be mindful of insect biodiversity and a few formally protected areas exist for the persistence of threatened butterflies but the inclusion of edible insects such as beetles, stinkbugs, caterpillars, locusts and termites in protected areas has historically been by accident rather than by design. As the habitat of edible insects is increasingly impacted on by human activities the benefits and potential need to be understood and managed. Community resource reserves, ecotourism and conservation flagship species for environmental education are recommended for a sustainable future.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Cathy Maria Dzerefos

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  1. Cathy Maria Dzerefos
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Correspondence to Cathy Maria Dzerefos .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg C, Denmark

    Afton Halloran

  2. Nordic Food Lab, Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg C, Denmark

    Roberto Flore

  3. FAO, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy

    Paul Vantomme

  4. Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg C, Denmark

    Nanna Roos

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Dzerefos, C.M. (2018). Conservation of Edible Insects in Sub-Saharan Africa. In: Halloran, A., Flore, R., Vantomme, P., Roos, N. (eds) Edible Insects in Sustainable Food Systems . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74011-9_12

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