ects as food and feed are a particularly relevant issue in the 21st century due to the rising cost of animal protein, food and feed insecurity, environmental pressures, population growth and increasing demand for protein among the middle classes, according to a new report from FAO.FAO has published a book entitled 'Edible insects: Future prospects for food and feed security' by Arnold van Huis, Joost Van Itterbeeck, Harmke Klunder, Esther Mertens, Afton Halloran, Giulia Muir and Paul Vantomme of Wageningen University of the Netherlands.
This book assesses the potential of insects as food and feed and gathers existing information and research on edible insects, according to its authors. The assessment is based on the most recent and complete data available from various sources and experts around the world.
Insects as food and feed emerge as an especially relevant issue in the 21st century due to the rising cost of animal protein, food and feed insecurity, environmental pressures, population growth and increasing demand for protein among the middle classes.
Thus, alternative solutions to conventional livestock and feed sources urgently need to be found. The consumption of insects, or entomophagy, therefore contributes positively to the environment and to health and livelihoods.
This publication grew from a small effort in 2003 in the FAO Forestry Department to document the role of insects in traditional livelihood practices in Central Africa and to assess the impact of harvesting insects in their natural habitats on the sustainability of forests. This effort has since unfolded into a broad-based effort to examine the multiple dimensions of insect gathering and rearing to clarify the potential that insects offer for improving food security worldwide. The purpose of this book is to bring together for the first time the many opportunities for, and constraints on, using insects as food and feed.
Role of Insects
It is estimated that insects form part of the traditional diets of at least two billion people. More than 1 900 species have reportedly been used as food. Insects deliver a host of ecological services that are fundamental to the survival of humankind. They also play an important role as pollinators in plant reproduction, in improving soil fertility through waste bioconversion, and in natural biocontrol for harmful pest species, and they provide a variety of valuable products for humans such as honey and silk and medical applications such as maggot therapy.
In addition, insects have assumed their place in human cultures as collection items and ornaments and in movies, visual arts and literature. Globally, the most commonly consumed insects are beetles (Coleoptera) (31 percent), caterpillars (Lepidoptera) (18 percent) and bees, wasps and ants (Hymenoptera) (14 percent).
Following these are grasshoppers, locusts and crickets (Orthoptera) (13 percent), cicadas, leafhoppers, planthoppers, scale insects and true bugs (Hemiptera) (10 percent), termites (Isoptera) (3 percent), dragonflies (Odonata) (3 percent), flies (Diptera) (2 percent) and other orders (5 percent).
Culture
Entomophagy is heavily influenced by cultural and religious practices, and insects are commonly consumed as a food source in many regions of the world. In most Western countries, however, people view entomophagy with disgust and associate eating insects with primitive behaviour. This attitude has resulted in the neglect of insects in agricultural research. Despite historical references to the use of insects for food, the topic of entomophagy has only very recently started to capture public attention worldwide.
Insects as Natural Resource
Edible insects inhabit a large variety of habitats, from aquatic ecosystems and farmed land to forests. Until recently, insects were a seemingly inexhaustible resource obtainable by harvesting from nature. However, some edible insect species are now in peril. A number of anthropogenic factors, such as overharvesting, pollution, wildfire and habitat degradation, have contributed to a decline in many edible insect populations. Climate change will likely affect the distribution and availability of edible insects in ways that are still relatively unknown. This publication includes case studies from several regions on the conservation strategies and semi-cultivation practices of rural people to protect insect species and their host plants. Such efforts contribute to improved habitat conservation.
Environmental Opportunities
The environmental benefits of rearing insects for food and feed are founded on the high feed conversion efficiency of insects. Crickets, for example, require only 2kg of feed for every 1kg of bodyweight gain. In addition, insects can be reared on organic side-streams (including human and animal waste) and can help reduce environmental contamination. Insects are reported to emit fewer greenhouse gases and less ammonia than cattle or pigs, and they require significantly less land and water than cattle rearing.
Compared with mammals and birds, insects may also pose less risk of transmitting zoonotic infections to humans, livestock and wildlife, although this topic requires further research.
Nutrition for Human Consumption
Insects are a highly nutritious and healthy food source with high fat, protein, vitamin, fibre and mineral content. The nutritional value of edible insects is highly variable because of the wide range of edible insect species. Even within the same group of species, nutritional value may differ depending on the metamorphic stage of the insect, the habitat in which it lives, and its diet. For example, the composition of unsaturated omega-3 and six fatty acids in mealworms is comparable with that in fish (and higher than in cattle and pigs), and the protein, vitamin and mineral content of mealworms is similar to that in fish and meat.
Farming Systems
Most edible insects are harvested in the wild. However, some insect species, such as bees and silkworms, have a long history of domestication because of the value of their products. Insects are also reared in large numbers for the purposes of biological control (e.g. as predators and parasitoids), health (e.g. maggot therapy) and pollination. The concept of farming insects for food is, however, relatively new; an example of rearing insects for human consumption in the tropics is cricket farming in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Thailand and Viet Nam.
