Human interactions with insects in southern Africa

rdf:langString Human interactions with insects in southern Africa

rdf:langString Various cultures throughout Africa utilize insects for many things and have developed unique interactions with insects: as food sources, for sale or trade in markets, or for use in traditional practices and rituals, as ethnomedicine or as part of their traditional ecological knowledge. As food, also known as entomophagy, a variety of insects are collected as part of a protein rich source of nutrition for marginal communities. Entomophagy had been part of traditional culture throughout Africa, though this activity has been diminishing gradually with the influx of Western culture and market economies. Often the collection of insects for food has been the activity of children, both male and female. Within Southern Africa different communities have established practices for regulating and maintaining their insect harvests. Some groups, through taboos, ritual, and hierarchical organizational structures acting as regulating bodies, have maintained their traditional practice for centuries. They monitor the development of certain caterpillar species' life cycles to ensure proper time frame for harvesting and sustainability. Understanding the diversity of relationships to nature is a crucial aspect of fully grasping and contending with the challenges of modernity and ecology. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations report from January 2012, it has been recommended that insects be utilized both for human consumption as well as for animal feed. However, as the climate changes many agencies are reporting on the risk of the decline in insect populations within the larger ongoing phenomenon of biodiversity loss and how it may affect the world's ecology.