April 18, 2003 - Food Insects: Amy Roda writes that even before coming to Zaire she was interested in the nutritional role that insects have in developing countries

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Congo - Kinshasa (Zaire): Peace Corps Congo Kinshasa : The Peace Corps in Congo - Kinshasa: April 18, 2003 - Food Insects: Amy Roda writes that even before coming to Zaire she was interested in the nutritional role that insects have in developing countries

By Admin1 (admin) on Friday, April 18, 2003 - 12:05 pm: Edit Post

Amy Roda writes that even before coming to Zaire she was interested in the nutritional role that insects have in developing countries



Amy Roda writes that even before coming to Zaire she was interested in the nutritional role that insects have in developing countries

With a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zaire

Amy Roda, a PCV from Metamora, Michigan, who is serving as a fish culture specialist in Zaire, wrote an interesting letter from which we excerpt the following:

Thank you for sending "The Food Insects Newsletter" and your paper "'The Human Use of Insects as Food and as Animal Feed." They have reaffirmed my direction in entomology. Even before coming to Zaire I was interested in the nutritional role that insects have in developing countries. Now, I am a volunteer in a country where I have personally experienced their culinary benefits.

The extent that insects are used in the Zairian diet varies between the different regions and even within the same region. I am posted in Bas Zaire in an area known as the Mayombe. Insects such as caterpillars and palm grubs have been served to me but on rare occasions.

The Mayombe is still forested with a few tracts of virgin jungle. But they are being made smaller by international logging companies. The forest supports a large population composed mostly of subsistence farmers. Along with casava, taro, rice, plantains, beans and peanuts, the villagers plant cash crops of coffee, cacao, palm nuts, and rubber. Animal protein is supplied by domestic animals (cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens), forest beasts, and salted fish brought in from the coast.

It was not until this last October that I was served Biphatu, a type of caterpillar which during the dry season congregate inside orange silk packets. The caterpillars are roasted, then cooked in a tomato/ palm oil soup seasoned with hot pepper. It tastes really quite good.

Why insects are not eaten regularly probably involves incorporating hundreds of years of Belgian, Portuguese, and missionary habits w ith those indigenous to the population. By many, insects are not considered food for people. When the Biphatu were being cooked up, most of the older generation looked away in disgust - a reaction I would expect from a Westerner. It is difficult to say whether insects are being reintroduced because other meat sources are decreasing as the population grows and the forest diminishes, or if the strong western influence will continue to hold sway.

Even though not readily eaten here, Biphatu are collected and sold to merchants who transport them to large cities such as Boma and Matadi. There, market women sell them, dry, by the bar glass or tomato can.

When I visited the Cateral, the area between Matadi and Kinshasa, and two other regions of Zaire, Bandundu and Kaisi Occidental, I noticed insects were more frequently included in the diets. In the local market one has a variety of textures and flavors to choose from. Live palm grubs can be had pretty much any time, though I prefer the seasonal grasshoppers and termites. They are best when fried in palm oil with a bit of hot pepper and salt. They are a better complement to a cold beer than any "Frito-Lay" product.

In the Bandundu region insects are eaten raw. When a mound of emerging termites is found, all other planned work is stopped, to the frustration of the Volunteer. I have not tried them myself, but I have been told that a mouthful of live termites tastes much like bacon.

At the Grand Marché in Kinshasa, next to the live lungfish and crocodile steaks is the insect section where the largest selection can be found. Insects are brought in from all the regions, both live and preserved. Also, in Kinshasa's fashionable night hot spot, the Matonge, insects are regularly sold as a bar snack.

Being an aquaculture extension agent, I was particularly interested in your comments on mass harvest strategies for light-attracted insects and controlled mass production of food insects. Currently, plankton serves as the fish's major food source in the pond. A simple and cost-free cultivation of insects would enhance production as well as aid in the collection of fingerlings. Usually, nests of ants are used to attract fingerlings to be 'lift-netted" and transferred to other ponds. Often after a couple of years the ant population is depleted making it difficult to harvest fingerlings.

If you could, please send articles describing low-tech methods currently being used. I am interested in doing some practical field testing.



Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

Story Source: Food Insects

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Congo Kinshasa; Insects; Food Production

PCOL4268
26

.

By clive (78.150.30.171) on Sunday, March 01, 2009 - 2:55 pm: Edit Post

god was absent in the congo DRC frome the time the was colonies until now
but what happening the moment mores people need to be called pastor or press but the same people are working with politic under cover to kill the other
it want to be any peace in the Africa
because of this
let me tell you, the soldiers can kill eat other because is recommended by law is there job but is ,not pastor,gang can insult eat other but not real christen 80% people the pray in this country why trouble?


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: