harvesters noted that trade in insects had actually
improved their livelihoods. However, the harvesters
target is always to sell the day’s catch, sometimes
at lower prices because edible insects are highly
perishable. It is important to add value and improve
preservation methods in order to fetch more revenue
and also cater for all year availability.Elsewhere in the world, as the popularity of ento-
mophagy grows, restaurants have opened that cater
specifically to those who enjoy entomophagy.
Restaurants in Singapore serve larvae and scorpi-
ons and seat sell-out crowds nightly. In some coun-
tries insects are canned, exported and sold in
foreign supermarkets all year round. Therefore
there should be an effort to increase the insects’
commercial value as food and feed for livestock es-
pecially chicken and availability on demand in a sus-
tainable manner. This will in the long run serve a
twin purpose of insect (natural resource) use as
food (food products and feed) and conservation
(Jharna Chakravorty, 2009).- Conclusion
Insects form a large form of biodiversity in diets. It is
therefore important to note that nutrition biodiversity
also serves as a safety net to vulnerable households
during times of crisis, presents income opportunities
to the rural poor and sustains productive agricultural
systems. Therefore maintenance of biodiversity is
essential for the sustainable production of food and
other agricultural products and provides benefits to
humanity like food security, nutrition and livelihoods.
Acknowledgements
The author acknowledges Bioversity International
for sponsoring her to attend the International Sci-
entific Symposium on Biodiversity and Sustainable
Diets; United Against Hunger in Rome, Italy in 2010.
Thanks to Prof. Thomas Omara-Alwala (Lincoln
University, Missouri) for his assistance, friendship
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